The Lucky Ones
by Butterfly Betty
Summary: Sequel to Fighting for Love: Bella and Edward are ready to start their collegiate careers at UCLA, but things aren't as soothe as they'd like. Will they be strong enough to fight together, or will they fall apart? MA, AU, Reposting.
1. Chapter 1

"No, Masen."

"Yes, Cullen."

Bella was sitting in the passenger seat of my car, glaring the ever loving fuck out of me. It was bad enough that she couldn't drive her own car to L.A., but, now, I was refusing to let her control the music. I was just that kind of a son of a bitch. She huffed, folding her arms in front of her and looking out the window. She looked so cute when she pouted.

"We had an agreement," I reminded her. "I get to pick the music for the first leg of the trip and you get the second. Besides, this season's Glee has sucked major ass."

"But this shit sucks," she whined, looking back at me. "I mean, seriously, The Beastie Boys?"

"They rock," I muttered, feeling embarrassed. Bella shook her head but smiled.

"Whatever you say, Baby," she murmured, reaching over and pulling my hand off the wheel and weaving her fingers with mine.

She was nervous, I understood. I was nervous, too. Bella and I were on our way from Forks to Los Angeles. Making the decision to leave Forks, and the state of Washington, was surprisingly easy, once we got back home from the tournament in Vegas, anyway. All it took was one more confrontation between us and the Stepford bitches, and the decision was made.

_Bella and I had just returned from our epic wins in Las Vegas, looking bruised and battered but alive at least. We had both fought so hard to secure the titles of champion. It hadn't been easy and it wasn't always fun but we did it and fought through it and it paid off for us. Anyway, we had just walked into the cafeteria to grab our lunch to take down to Marcus' classroom when Lauren, Jessica, Mike, Tyler, and Eric surrounded us. Now, most people would have learned the first time we beat all their asses to back the fuck off, but the Stepford bitches were stupid as fuck. However, Bella and I were still sore and I knew that neither of us were exactly in the mood to play nicely with anyone._

"_Looks like you two got your asses kicked," smirked Lauren, pushing out her fake boobs. "Guess you aren't as tough as you look, are you, Cullen?"_

"_Did you get a boob job, Mallory?" asked Bella. "I would get your money back. They did a shitty job on them. I mean, fuck, one of them is way bigger than the other. Unless…wait, could you only pay for one? The doctor wouldn't let you suck him off for the other one, would he? Here I had heard that your oral skills were way better than that."_

"_No," snarled Lauren, covering her chest as everyone laughed at her. I do mean everyone; including her bitches. She turned and glared at them. "Shut the fuck up."_

_Bella and I laughed and turned to leave when suddenly, Lauren was on Bella. Not in a sexy, girl on girl kind of way, either. Lauren jumped Bella from behind, pushing her to the ground and trying to hit her. However, Bella, being the super badass bitch that she could be, had Lauren under her in the blink of an eye, pinning her to the ground. But she didn't hit her, which was a step up for her._

"_You fucking bitch," screeched Jessica, jumping Bella and pulling her off of Lauren. _

_I went to grab Jessica when Tyler and Eric grabbed me, throwing me back into the wall behind me. Mike was smirking as he came at me, throwing his fist at my head. However, I was smarter than the three of them combined and ducked. Mike hit his hand on the wall, breaking two of his knuckles and dropping to his knees as he cried out in agony. Tyler and Eric both tried to hit me but I, once again, ducked and they hit each other, knocking the other out cold. I looked over as Bella fought both Lauren and Jessica off, merely by blocking every weak punch they threw at her. They really were quite possibly the two stupidest bitches in history._

When Esme came running in, stopping the fight, I expected both me and Bella to get into trouble for fighting back, as we had before, but I never expected what happened, to happen. Just when I thought that the vein in Esme's head was going to explode, an underclassman named Hannah Bright stepped up and told Esme what had happened. Once she backed us up, a few more people spoke up, confirming that Bella and I had just been defending ourselves.

It turns out that while Bella and I were out of town, that the Stepford bitches had taken to terrorizing Hannah and her friends. They had gone as far as scratching a series of four letter words into the new paint job on Hannah's father's car and Papa, who happened to be the Chief of Police, wasn't happy. Not only were they expelled from school, but all five of them had been arrested and sent to Juvenile Detention.

Hannah's dad, John, had brought her into Carlisle's gym and somehow talked him into training Hannah how to box. She still had a ways to go but she was getting there. A few other kids from our school had come in and started training, too. Something that Bella was very resistant about but since we were heading to school at UCLA. I guess she figured that at least Carlisle would be busy.

"I need some coffee," I sighed, looking over at her. "You?"

"I could use some," she smiled. "But only if I can pick the next play list."

"Fine," I muttered, pulling off the road.

I parked my car in front of a small diner in Sutherlin, Oregon. Bella and I climbed out of the car just as the cars driven by her brothers pulled up next to us. Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper had insisted that they be with us as we drove south and with them came Alice, Rose, and Esme. Bella and I pretended to whine and gripe about it but, honestly, we didn't mind. This was going to be a new experience for all of us.

"How far were you thinking of going tonight?" asked Emmett, ignoring me and Bella, and asking Carlisle, this being his trip and all.

"I don't know, maybe try to make it to Sacramento," said Carlisle, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's quite the drive," mused Jasper, stretching. "Maybe we should think about stopping before that. I mean, surely one of these little piss hole towns will have a Best Western, Holiday Inn or something."

"We're driving all night," said Bella, grabbing my hand and pushing past her brothers. Just as she got to the doors, she stopped and looked back at them. "Of course, you are free to turn and go back to Forks. It's not like we need babysitters."

Leaving them all standing there, yelling at her that we weren't driving all night, Bella and I headed into the diner. I leaned down and kissed her head before heading over to the bathroom. I took care of business and washed my hands. When I came back out, I found Bella sitting at the counter eating a bowl of blueberry cobbler with two huge scoops of ice cream on top. Her brothers, my sister, Alice, and Rose were sitting at a couple of tables on the other side of the diner. I took the seat next to Bella leaning my chin on her shoulder, causing her to smile.

"Don't even think about it, Masen," she said.

"Just one bite?" I asked, sliding my hand onto her leg. Her breath hitched. "Please?"

"No," she said, breathing a little heavier as my hand traveled up her thigh. "Edward."

"Just one little, tiny bite?" I murmured, kissing the outside of her ear. Bella shivered. Oh, yeah, I knew my girl.

"Fine, just one," she whispered, breathlessly. She turned on her stool, slipping her leg between mine, pushing my hand up her leg. She scooped up a mixture of cobbler and ice cream, licking her lips as she brought it up to mine. "Open."

I parted my lips, letting her slid the spoon inside. I clamped my lips around the spoon, licking off every little bit. Bella dropped the spoon on the counter as she grabbed my face, crushing her lips to mine. Pulling her so that she was straddling my lap, I thrust my tongue into her mouth, causing Bella to moan, weaving her fingers into my hair, pulling hard. I growled, letting my hands slide around to her ass, clutching at her cheeks.

I needed her to be closer, naked even, but, as we often did when we started making out, we forgot that not only were we in the middle of a diner, but that our family was with us. It wasn't until she was pulled out of my arms by Emmett and Jasper and Esme grabbed my ear, pulling me off my stool that I remembered they were here. Carlisle looked deadly as he stepped up, jabbing his finger into my chest.

"What have I told you, boy, about sucking her face when we are in public?" he asked, teeth grinding together. I thought about mentioning that it was bad for his teeth, but decided against it.

"Car, stop it," hissed Bella. He turned and glared at her, clearly telling her to shut the fuck up. "Fuck off, Car."

I loved her and her determination to defy him.

"Not to do it," I said, dryly. Pulling my ear free of my sister's fingers, I pushed his off of my chest. "We've had this discussion, Carlisle. When you stop pretending that you 'came over early for breakfast,' Bella and I will stop making out in public. Okay?" I asked.

"I really don't like you, kid," he muttered, clearly embarrassed that I called him out in public. "Let's hit the road. We have a long trip to make tonight."

Bella elbowed Emmett and Jasper, causing them to groan as they let her go. I tossed some money on the counter, thanking the waitress, who was watching all of this with wide eyes, and led Bella back out to my car. Once inside, she unplugged my iPod and plugged hers in, setting her Staind play list. I laughed as I started the car, and headed back onto the highway.

"Good choice, Baby," I smiled.

Bella slipped off her shoes and pulled her feet up into the seat as she started singing along to the music. It was amazing to see how much she had grown since the tournament in Vegas. While she still struggled to deal with her parents betrayal, she at least talked with them on an almost regularly bases. Nolin and Corrine had been very patient with Bella, not pushing her to give more than she was able to. Even though they didn't like the idea that Bella was going all the way to California for school, they didn't try to talk her out of it, or even worse, try to come with us. That would have been awkward.

Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett, however, were still not talking with Nolin or Corrine at all, which made it hard for Bella, but she understood that they needed to take that step in their own time. While they may not have suffered the way Bella did, they did go through hell and, maybe one day, they would be ready. As for me and her parents, well, it might be better to say that we try to get along for Bella's sake. I still think they are major pains in the asses, who need to have their asses kicked for ever putting her through hell, and they think I am trying to turn her against them. I'm not, and Bella knows that it has more to do with their insecurities that they will lose her…again.

The only part of her family that she couldn't seem to handle was Charlie and Renee. Bella struggled to put it into words why their betrayal, mostly Renee's, was harder for her to handle, but it basically boiled down to Bella feeling that Renee never accepted her for who she was and her choosing Charlie over her own family. Of course, it didn't help Renee's case with Bella that ever since we got back from Vegas, she had been in Bella's face, trying to smooth things over. At least Corrine and Nolan gave Bella some space, you know? So needless to say, there was very little progress on the Renee and Charlie side of things.

"If Aaron Lewis ever comes to L.A. to do a solo show, we are so there," said Bella, looking over at me.

"Why?" I asked. "So you can stare at his ass?"

"Yes," she teased. I snorted, bringing her hand up, pressing it to my lips. "If my brothers weren't behind us, I would have you pull the car over so we could fuck in the backseat."

I hadn't expected those words to come out of her mouth and I veered the car onto the shoulder. Bella burst out laughing. A moment later, her cell phone rang. Still giggling, she picked it up, and flipped it open.

"Hello, Carlisle." She smiled. "Yes, he's fine . . . Fine, hold on." Bella rolled her eyes as she covered the speaker part of the phone. "He wants to know if you are okay since you nearly drove off the road. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him that you are sexy minx, who is naughty and tempting me to pull over and take her as hard as I can for God and everyone to see," I said with a smirk. Bella burst out laughing again, pulling the phone back up.

"He said, he's fine and that he thought he saw a dog run across the road . . . I know we are in the middle of nowhere but that's what he said." Bella winked as she looked over at me. "We are driving straight there, Car. Deal with it." She hung up her phone, tossing it into the backseat. "He's convinced that we need to spend the night in Sacramento."

"He just wants to fuck my sister," I muttered, grimly.

"Ugh, that's why we aren't stopping," she muttered, turning the radio up.

Esme would be the only part of Forks that I was going to miss. When she dragged me there a year ago, I never thought I would find the love of my life or be heading to college at UCLA. She and I were still close, maybe even closer. After Christmas, my father was offered a high-security level job at the Pentagon. It had been a hard decision for him and my mother to make but with Esme happy with her job, and me and Bella headed down to California, he took it. They moved just after the New Year but had been back to visit three times already. They really wanted to come with us but I think Elizabeth knew this was something that we needed to do on our own. It was us taking our first step into the real world, so to speak.

I drove my car past the entrance to UCLA just after dawn. Bella stretched in her seat and looked over at me, once again taking my hand in hers. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

I smiled. "I sure as hell hope so."

**Yes, I am finally reposting this. I will do my best to get one chapter a day up, but I make no promises.**


	2. Chapter 2

As we drove through campus, both Bella and I became more and more nervous, even if we didn't mention to each other. I parked my car in front of the dorms we would be living in and climbed out, stretching after being in the car for the last twenty or so hours. Bella climbed out, shutting the door behind her, and looking over at me.

"It's hot here," she grimaced.

I nodded, moving over to her side as our siblings parked a few spots down from us. Placing my hands on her hips, I pulled her to me. "We'll get used to it," I murmured.

Bella placed her hand on my chest as she said, "I know. It kind of reminds me of Arizona."

"Is that good or bad?" I asked.

"A little of both," she muttered, closing her eyes. Leaning in, I pressed my lips down onto hers. She smiled against them, before kissing me back. "This is very good."

I laughed, kissing her again. "Let's go check in so we can get rid of them."

Bella didn't say anything as she slipped her hand into mine. Everyone was waiting for us in front of the dorms, each of them understanding that this was a big step for both of us. For the first time in our lives, Bella and I would be leaving those we had relied on to take care of us and were going to have to rely on each other. As much shit as we gave them, we were going to miss them.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Bella and I followed them inside. The lobby was crowded, full of overeager college students and their overbearing parents, wistfully watching as they took their own step toward being adults. I missed my parents, and even though I understood why they couldn't be here, I wished they were. Bella tightened her grip on my hand, and I looked down at her, noticing that she was shaking. Slipping my hand out of hers, I quickly tucked her into my side, holding her as close as I could.

We got in line and waited for our turn at the front desk. Time passed by slowly, people pushed their way through, and we were all getting irritated. By the time we reached the counter, tempers were flaring and all of us had muttered a series of four letter words under our breath. The girl behind the counter, a perky blond with a giddy smile and high ponytail, beamed as she looked up at us, after taking the time to notice the blue streaks in Bella's dark hair.

"Welcome to Jones Hall," she giggled and I felt Bella growl, from deep inside her chest. "Names, please?"

Tightening my arm around her, I smiled and said, "Edward Masen and Bella Cullen."

"Of course," she nearly squealed. The girl had way too much pep. I expected her to start doing cheers or some shit. "Let's see. Edward, you have been assigned to room 512. That's on the fifth floor."

"No, really?" asked Bella, sarcastically.

"Yep," cheered the girl. "I couldn't believe it either."

Bella bit her lip as she looked up at me. All I could was shake my head. I mean, what do you say to that? "Bella, you are in room 520."

The minute the words were out of her mouth, Carlisle was standing between us, ripping my arm from around Bella and slamming his fist on the counter. The girl's smile fell as everyone, and I do mean everyone, looked over at us.

"They are on the same floor?" glowered Carlisle.

"Yes," squeaked the girl.

"Nuh uh, no way, not going to happen," he vented, slamming his hand on the counter with each word he spat out. "There is no way in hell that I will allow her to be on the same floor as him."

The girl behind the desk looked from him over to Bella, frowning. "Older brother?" she asked.

"Yes," sighed Bella, glaring at him.

Meanwhile, Jasper and Emmett were boring a hole into the back of my head, because somehow this was all my fault. The girl nodded her head in understanding before turning back to Carlisle, smugly folding her arms in front of her.

"Sir," she started, causing Carlisle to grimace at being called that. I stifled my laughter, but Bella burst out laughing. "I don't make the rooming assignments, or the floor assignments. If you have a problem with it, you will need to go over to the administration building and talk to them. However, for the time being, Edward is in room 512, and Bella is in room 520, both of which are on the fifth floor."

"This is not over, Muffy or Buffy or whatever your fucking name is," muttered Carlisle. The girl's friendly smile dropped for the second time and she placed her hands on the counter, palms flat. I kind of got worried about Carlisle.

"The name is Missy," she snapped. "This is over, Dude. I have five older brothers and I know how to take your ass out. Go ahead, try me, I fucking double dog dare you."

Carlisle's mouth gaped open and he apparently had lost his ability to speak. Bella laughed as she reached out and grabbed our room keys and thanked Missy for everything. Missy smiled and waved as we walked away, leaving Carlisle standing there. Slipping my arms back around Bella, she and I headed back outside to get the first load of our belongings to take up to our rooms.

"You know, Bell," said Alice, smiling. "It's going to be boring without you and Eddie here pissing those boys off all the time."

"It's Edward, Alice," I reminded her.

Bella snorted. "Guess you and Rose will have to do it for us."

"But it won't be the same," she giggled. "I mean, only you and Eddie-"

"Edward," I repeated. "E-d-w-a-r-d. Not really that hard to remember, Little Terminator."

"Touché, Eddie, touché," smirked Alice.

We all grabbed a suitcase or box and headed back into the dorms. Missy burst out laughing when Carlisle walked by and scowled at her. We rode the elevator up to the fifth floor and headed down to Bella's room first. She unlocked her door and pushed it open, finding a tall, curvy redhead standing in the middle of the room with a pair of tight, very short, black shorts on and a black sports bra. Her abs were ripped and her body firm. She looked up and smiled at all of us.

"Number 108," she smiled. "I heard you were coming here."

"I fought you in Vegas, didn't I?" asked Bella, setting her suitcase on her bed. "Number 226, right?"

"Kicked my ass, too," chortled the girl. She smiled and looked over at the rest of us, letting her eyes rest on me. "Dude, I barely recognized you without all the bruises. You're kind of cute when you aren't getting your ass beat."

"Thanks," I muttered, dryly. She laughed.

"I'm Maggie Mirren, but everyone who values their life calls me Mags," she said.

"Bella Cullen." Turning and looking over at me she said, "This is Edward Masen." Waving toward the others, Bella laughed. "You don't really need to know them."

"Nice to put name with the faces." Maggie looked over at our family. "Even you nameless peeps."

"Yeah, you, too," murmured Bella.

"Well, I've gotta run, like I literally need to run," said Maggie. "But I'll see you later, Bella. Edward, don't go messing up that pretty face."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try not to."

Maggie laughed again as she pulled the small duffle bag off her bed and walked out of the room. Bella gave me a look that plainly said she wasn't sure about this arrangement. I agreed that Maggie was different but at least she was going to be rooming with a fighter, someone who would understand our crazy training schedules and bruises.

"She was weird," muttered Carlisle.

"No shit," snickered Emmett.

"Well, I like her," said Bella, folding her arms in front of her. "I think she and I will get along perfectly."

"Keep telling yourself that, Bell," laughed Jasper. "You might even start to believe it one day."

Bella muttered under her breath that Jasper could fuck off, but either he didn't hear her or he chose not to respond. Alice, being the little drill sergeant that she was, ordered us down to my room so we could get on with the move. She wasn't thrilled with helping us bring our things from the car up to our rooms and hadn't hidden that fact at all.

When we got to my room, the door was already open. Looking inside, I found Number 213 from our Vegas tournament unpacking his clothes. His snow blond hair was longer than it had been seven months ago and he seemed much less intimidating now. He turned and saw us standing in the door way and started laughing.

"Number 157," he chuckled. "How's it going?"

"Not too bad, I guess," I said, walking into the room and setting my bag on my bed. "Name is Edward, Edward Masen."

"Like Bond, James Bond?" he snickered. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, man. I'm Liam Shepard, Irish Mom, German Dad. Not really sure on the details, you know?"

"Um, yeah, yeah," I said, nodding my head. Liam looked over at Bella, Carlisle, and Esme, smiling as he got to my sister.

"Who's the hottie?" he asked, motioning to her.

Bella and I gagged while Carlisle wrapped his arm around her protectively. Esme giggled. "I'm Esme, Edward's not much older sister."

"You are seriously beautiful." As Liam spoke, the vein in Carlisle's head started throbbing. "I would love to take you to dinner."

I gagged again. Esme giggled. Carlisle growled. Bella shuddered. It was all quite disgusting.

"Sorry, kid, but I'm kind of taken," smirked Esme, clearly enjoying the young boy who was flirting with her.

"That's a shame," murmured Liam. He looked around at everyone before turning back to me. "Are you going introduce me to everyone?"

"This is Bella Cullen," I smiled, taking her hand in mine. "You don't need to know them."

Liam threw his head back and laughed. "Man, something tells me this is going to be a great year. Look, I've gotta run over to the admin building and take care of some shit so I'll see you later."

"Yeah, sure," I said.

Liam grabbed his keys off his desk before walking out of our room, making sure to check Esme out first. She giggled and blushed while Carlisle took a step after him, like he was going to beat the man down. He probably would have if Esme hadn't leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Something that caused his eyes to pop open and him to smile widely. Once again, I gagged.

"Well, we should really get everything else brought up so you two can get settled in," murmured Carlisle.

"You mean so you can go fuck Esme," snickered Bella. Emmett and Jasper burst out laughing as both Carlisle and Esme blushed, shifting their eyes to the ground, and walked away.

"Fuck, Bell, it's just not going to be the same without you at home to bust his ass all the time," laughed Emmett.

"I'm sure you and Jas will take over for me," smirked Bella.

"You bet your ass we will," promised Jasper.

Even though he was joking around with us, I could see that it was still hard for him to let Bella go. He, Emmett, and Carlisle had done so much to protect her but it was my turn to take care of her, and she, in turn, would take care of me. Smiling to myself, I kissed Bella and followed everyone back down to our cars.

Between the eight of us, it didn't take us long to move everything into our rooms. Neither Bella nor I had brought much from home, just what we couldn't live without. As mushy and gross as this sounded, all we really needed was each other. Once we had the last of it in our rooms, Bella and I headed back down to the cars with them. This would be the last time we saw any of them for a while, a crushing reality for the two of us. We stood awkwardly in front of Carlisle's car, waiting for someone to say anything.

"This is fucking weird," muttered Jasper, shaking his head. Looking up at Bella, he smiled. "I didn't think you were smart enough to get into college."

"So funny, asshole," she scoffed. "Just because you couldn't get into clown school is no reason to be jealous."

"Bitch," he laughed, reaching over and hugging her. Turning serious, he said, "I didn't think you would be able to do this a year ago."

"I wouldn't have been able to," she murmured, hugging him back. Pulling away, she sniffed back the tears threatening to fall and looked over at Alice. "Take care of him, Alice."

"I will," she promised. "Be careful, ok?"

Bella nodded and looked over at Emmett and Rose, who were leaning on the hood of his jeep. "Em, don't go getting into any trouble."

"You know I can't promise you that, Bell," he smiled, looking up at her. "I do have a rep to protect."

"True," admitted Bella. Stepping up to him, she wrapped her arms around him. "Be careful, Em, I still need you."

"I promise, Bell," he murmured, hugging her back. "Kick some ass for me. Don't let any of these fucktards push you around."

"I won't." Bella smiled as she pulled back. Emmett brought his hand up to her cheek, leaning forward and kissing her forehead before letting her go and holding his hand out to me. I placed my hand in his.

"Hurt her and I will be here in a fucking heartbeat ready to rip your heart out," said Emmett. Bella rolled her eyes while everyone, but me, laughed.

"If you don't know by now that I won't hurt her, then you really are pretty fucking stupid."

"I like you, kid. You've got balls," laughed Emmett, dropping my hand. Rose hugged me and then Bella.

"Good luck," was all she said before stepping aside.

That only left Carlisle and Esme, both of whom were leaning against the front of his car. We walked over, waiting for one of them to say anything. Esme shifted from one foot to the other before reaching out and hugging Bella, whispering into her ear. I couldn't hear what my sister was telling her but whatever she said made Bella cry.

"I promise," sniffled Bella, quietly. Esme nodded her head and looked back at me.

"You had better keep your grades up," she said.

"I will," I murmured. "Keep all those little shits in line."

"I'm going to miss you, Edward," said Esme, hugging me. I brought my arms up, hugging her back. "Now, that you are all grown up and everything, I know you don't need me anymore but—"

"I will always need you, Es," I whispered. "Always."

Esme pulled back, taking a deep breath and tried to blink back her tears. "Well, call if you need anything or are bored. Just . . . call."

"As much as I can," I promised. "And I'll email, too."

"Me too," she murmured.

Carlisle cleared his throat, pulling our attention over to him. He was staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to say or how to say it. "I, um," he said, lifting his eyes up to me and Bella. "Keep your elbows in and your feet moving."

"We will, Car," whispered Bella. She reached out, grabbing his shirt and pulling him to her. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "Teach them what you taught me, Car."

"To be a pain in my ass?" he asked, quietly.

"No," laughed Bella, though it was shaky and full of emotions. "Teach them to fight for their lives, Car. You taught me that."

"I did?" he asked, laying his check on the top of her head.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Promise me that you will be okay? I need to know that you boys are going to be okay."

"We'll be okay," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Promise me that you aren't going to give up when it gets hard."

"I promise." Bella leaned back and looked up at her oldest brother. "I'll make you proud of me, Car."

Carlisle smiled. "I'm already proud of you, sis." He leaned in, kissing the top of her head. "I'll call you."

Carlisle looked over at me, slowly nodding his head and silently telling me what he couldn't actually say. We had an unspoken rule between us; he took care of my sister, and I took care of Bella. We stood on the sidewalk and watched as everyone climbed into their cars, pulling out one at a time, and driving away. Bella took a ragged breath as she looked up at me, eyes swimming with tears.

"We'll be okay, won't we?" she asked.

Turning, I brushed the tears off her face. "As long as we have each other, we can do anything, Baby."

**Thank you for all the reviews. I fully intended on posting this chapter on Monday, but I ended up in the hospital. Very long story short, I nearly died and I'm still struggling to recover. Please bear with me while I attempt to get back into all of this.**


	3. Chapter 3

After getting all of our stuff unpacked, Bella and I ordered a pizza and settled in my room. I think Bella was nervous about being in her room all alone with Maggie. She still had moments where the dark shadows crept their way into her eyes, making it difficult for her to let anyone close, anyone but me. Maggie came looking for her and ended up staying and enjoying the pizza with us.

"Man, this shit is good," she muttered, mouth full of cheese pizza.

"It's not bad," I agreed as the door to my room opened and Liam came in. He stopped and looked from Maggie, who was sitting on his bed to the pizza in front of her, and smiled.

"Fuck, a hot chick and a pizza?" he asked. "Eddie-"

"Edward, not Eddie," I sighed, ignoring Bella's laughter.

"That's what I said. Dude, you didn't have to get me a woman or a pizza," snickered Liam.

"Fuck you, asshole," snapped Maggie, flipping him off.

"With pleasure," laughed Liam, completely amused by her. He sat down on his bed, snagging a slice of pizza from her. "Thanks, babe."

"My name is not 'babe,' fucker," she hissed, grabbing the pizza from him. "It's Mags and don't touch my food."

"You could share," he muttered, pouting. "I'm letting you sit on my bed, looking all hot and shit."

"Ugh, you're a jerk," laughed Maggie. "Fine, one slice."

"Three," smiled Liam.

"Two," smirked Maggie, "and you have to go get us all a soda."

"Deal," agreed Liam.

Liam followed through with his end of the deal, and ran down to the lobby, grabbing us all a drink. The four of us spent the rest of the evening with him hitting on Maggie and her shooting him down. Bella laid her head on my shoulder, listening to their banter. It didn't take long for the exhaustion to catch up to her though, and I walked her back down to her room.

"Goodnight," I whispered, leaning down and kissing her.

"Night," murmured Bella.

I headed back down to my room and got ready for bed, just leaving on a pair of shorts. The beds were uncomfortable and it felt like I had just laid down when someone started banging on the door to mine and Liam's dorm room. Shifting my eyes over to the clock on my desk, I saw that it was nearly two in the morning.

"What the fuck?" he muttered, reaching over and flicking on his light. Dread filled me as I had an eerie feeling; an all too familiar feeling. Scrambling out of my bed, I threw open the door and found Maggie standing there, fist up as she prepared to bang on the door again, and panting slightly.

"It's Bella, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's freaking out," muttered Maggie.

"Fuck," I spat, pushing her out of the way and running down the hallway.

The other people who lived on our floor had started coming out of their rooms, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. By the time I was half way to Bella's room, I could hear her screaming. The usual words coming out of her mouth as she begged us not to leave her. Mentally, I slapped myself for not realizing that the stress of moving and leaving her family behind was going to set off the nightmares again. When I got to her room, I found Bella thrashing around on her bed, clawing at her arms and screaming.

"NO, PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE ME!" Bella's pleas echoed through the room. "COME BACK! EDWARD, COME BACK!"

I climbed on the bed, and wrapped my body around hers, holding her as close as I could. From the doorway, I saw Maggie and Liam watching with looks of pure horror on their faces. Placing my lips right against Bella's ear, I whispered, "Baby, I'm here."

"Edward, don't leave me," she cried, clinging to me.

"Never, baby," I murmured, slipping my leg over hers and pinning hers down to the bed. "I've got you. You're safe now."

"Please," whimpered Bella.

"Shh, I'm here," I said, soothingly. "I'm here."

Slowly, Bella's body stopped shaking and her breathing started to slow, falling into a peacefully rhythm. Looking over at Maggie and Liam, I whispered, "She's fine now but I have to stay with her or she's going to freak out again."

"She was screaming," muttered Maggie.

Closing my eyes, I sighed. "I know, but she's okay right now."

"She's okay?" asked Maggie, voice rising. Bella whimpered and Maggie pressed her lips together. "Didn't seem like she was okay when she was begging you not to fucking leave her," she hissed.

"Look, just don't make a big deal about it and I will talk to her tomorrow about it," I begged. Maggie looked doubtful. "Mags, please, just...give her some time."

Shaking her head, Maggie sighed. "Okay, I guess I'll have to trust you."

"Mags, you can stay with me if you want," suggested Liam. Maggie cocked her eyebrow at him. "You can sleep in his bed," said Liam, putting his hands up.

"Fine, but don't get any ideas, pretty boy. I can kick your ass," she muttered, grabbing her pillow off her bed. "Let's go."

Maggie shut the door behind her, but not before she and Liam both gave us a look that clearly said they thought we were both insane. Bella whimpered again as I reached down and pulled her blanket up over us. I tried to get as comfortable as I could in her tiny twin size bed but there wasn't much room. Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I closed my eyes and let the pure exhaustion pull me under.

"NO!" screamed Bella, scrambling out of her bed. Snapping my eyes open, I looked over and found her on the floor, crouched down and trying to protect herself. The sun was shining in through her windows and, I swear, I heard a fucking bird singing outside. Fucking chipper birds.

"Bella, it's okay," I said, slowly as I climbed out of her bed. She lifted her eyes to me, they were full of fear. "Hey, it's okay."

"I need to run," she muttered, teeth clenched.

"Okay, let's go run," I agreed, quickly.

Bella nodded her head and scrambled to her feet. She stripped off her pajamas and slipped on a pair of cotton shorts and one of my shirts. My Who T-shirt, in fact. The very one she wore the first time she needed me to hold her while she slept.

"You ready?" she asked, looking up at me through her lashes.

"Yeah."

Bella and I headed down to my room so I could change. She waited in the hall, muttering something about not wanting to get in the way. I think she was just embarrassed that she had a nightmare and they knew about it. Liam was passed out on his bed, arm slung over his eyes and snoring quite loudly. Maggie was curled up in my bed, pillow over her head as she tried to drown out Liam's snoring.

Since I already had shorts on, I just grabbed a shirt and my socks, shoes, and iPod, and headed out into the hallway. Bella was already listening to her iPod. Her eyes were wide and fearful. I slipped my shirt on and pulled my shoes and socks on before wrapping my arm around her waist and leading her over to the elevator.

Since neither of us knew our way around campus very well yet, we ended up just taking off running and hoped we could find our way back. Bella pushed herself hard than I had seen her do in a long time. The entire time we were running, she clenched and unclenched her fists over and over. I could do nothing but try to keep up. This was just how Bella dealt with things.

Falling onto a bench in the middle of campus, she bent over and placed her head between her knees. "Fuck, this is a huge campus," she panted.

"No shit," I gasped, ignoring the burning in my lungs as I breathed deeply and I was in good shape. Bella and I never slowed our training down. Sitting down next to her, I clutched at my side. "You gonna tell me what happened?"

Bella looked over at me, frowning. "I woke her up, didn't I?" she asked. I nodded. Bella turned away from me. "You weren't there," she muttered. "In my nightmare. You weren't there and I was looking for you but I couldn't find you."

"You know I'm never leaving you, right?" I asked, reaching over and taking her hand in mine.

"I do," admitted Bella, looking back at me. "Was she completely freaked out?"

"Yeah," I sighed, nodding my head.

"Fuck," she muttered, shaking her head. "I haven't had one in months."

"I know," I said, quietly. Bella slid over and laid her head on my shoulder, slipping her legs over mine. I wrapped my hand around her knee, holding her legs up on mine, and moved my other arm to around her waist. "Do you need to call them?"

"It's been less than a day," she murmured, knowing I asking about her brothers. She tilted her head up to me. "Kind of pathetic, huh?"

"No," I smiled, kissing her. "Come on, let's get back so you can call and then we can grab some breakfast before our meeting with Phil."

"Okay," murmured Bella.

It took us almost ten minutes to find our way around campus and find our way back to the dorms. Bella pulled me into her room with her, freezing when she saw Maggie sitting cross legged on her bed. In fact, Maggie looked worried and a little scared. Bella shifted from one foot to the other before she walked over to her desk and picked up her cell phone. She left her hands travel across my chest as she walked past me and out into the hallway.

I tried to sound reassuring when I said, "She's not dangerous."

"Yeah." Maggie nodded her head but I could tell she didn't believe me.

"Yeah," I echoed, pulling the door shut behind me. I walked down the hall to the balcony that looked over campus. Bella was sitting in the ledge, dangling her feet over as she talked on the phone.

"I know," muttered Bella. "I'm trying but it's hard...I don't think I can do that...You know why, Car...He did, all night." Looking back at me, she smiled. "I just really miss you...I am a girl, dickweed." Bella laughed. "Okay, hang on," she murmured, turning back to me she held out the phone. "Carlisle wants to talk to you."

"Okay," I said, taking the phone from her. I threw my leg over the ledge and sat with Bella tucked into me. Bringing the phone up to my ear, I muttered. "Carlisle."

"It doesn't sound like you are taking care of her, boy," he growled.

"Would you prefer we shared a room?" I asked.

"NO!" he bellowed. I pulled the phone away from my ear and Bella laughed silently.

"I am doing everything I can for her, Carlisle. I promise," I reassured him. Through the phone, I heard him sigh.

"I know, kid. Look, it's going to be rough for a few days but you have to do everything you can to make sure she feels safe."

"I am."

"I know you are, but...don't be afraid to call, even at three in the morning, okay?" he asked.

"Okay," I said, nodding my head. "Is Esme okay?"

"She's okay, Edward. Don't tell her I told you but she cried," he chuckled.

I laughed. "Tell her we're okay, will ya?" I asked.

"Sure thing, kid," he replied. "Let me talk to Bella."

"Here." I handed Bella.

"Hey," she murmured, into the phone. "Yeah, kind of nervous. It's a whole new ballgame here...I promise...Tell Em and Jas I love them, okay...yeah, I love you, too, Car...I will soon...okay, bye." Bella hung up the phone and laid it on the ledge in front of her.

"Feel better?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said, quietly. "They've just been my anchor for so long, Edward."

"You don't have to explain anything to me." I smiled, kissing her. "I miss Esme, too."

"God, we're so pathetic," she groaned. "Less than a day apart from our siblings and we're whining about missing them."

"Seriously," I snorted.

"Thank you for holding me last night."

"I'll hold you every night, if you want," I suggested.

"I do, but something tells me Maggie isn't going to like that too much."

"She just doesn't understand," I said.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," muttered Bella, sliding off the edge. "I'm going to go take a shower. Meet you by the elevators in twenty?"

"I'll be there."

Bella slipped her hand to the back of my neck and pulled my lips down to hers, giving me a quick kiss before she turned and left me alone. Sighing, I climbed off the ledge and followed her inside but headed down to my dorm room. Liam was sitting on the edge of his bed, tying his shoes when I came in. He looked up and smiled, but it was off.

"Hey," he said, standing up. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," I muttered, shortly. "Gonna shower so..."

Without giving him a chance to say anything, I grabbed my shower stuff and headed down to the bathroom. I hung up my towel and clean clothes before starting the shower, letting the water heat up until it was nice and hot. The water scorched my back and shoulders, but at the same time, it felt good. Between the run, the twenty hour car ride, and sleeping with Bella in her tiny bed, my body ached.

I finished my shower and dried off, not bothering to shave this morning. Bella always seemed to like a little bit of stubble. I got dressed, pulling on my khaki cargo shorts and Clash T-shirt. Always go back to the basics, you know, and the Clash, definitely ranked in the basics. I brushed my teeth before heading back down to my room. Like I knew he would be, Liam was already gone. Can't say I was too surprised. Tossing my towel and running closes on the floor, I headed down to the elevator.

Bella was already waiting for me, tapping her foot nervously as she stared at a spot on the black and white speckled tiles. She had on a pair of black cotton shorts and a black tank top with a pair of ruby red lips that stretched across her chest. I walked up to her, slipping my arms around her waist, and pulling her into my arms. She sighed and looked up at me, letting her hands come to rest on my chest.

"You look beautiful," I said, smiling.

Bella blushed. "Thanks," she murmured. "You don't too bad yourself, handsome."

"Gee, thanks," I scoffed, kissing her. "I'm fucking starving."

"Me too," she laughed, reaching behind her and hitting the button. "Food sounds kind of good, too."

As the doors opened behind her, I growled and pushed her in, pressing her against the walls. The doors closed behind us just as I crushed my lips down onto hers. Just like every time we started making out, our kisses became more intense. Our lips moved faster, harder. I wrapped my hand around her thigh, pulling her leg up over my hip, literally picking her up off the ground. Bella wrapped her other leg around my waist, thrusting her tongue into my mouth.

"Oh, holy fuck," gasped a girl. Breaking our lips apart, Bella and I looked over and saw Missy standing with her hand on the doors, holding them open. We hadn't even realized we had reached the lobby. "This kind of explains why your dick brother went all caveman on me yesterday," she giggled.

"Yeah, sorry," muttered Bella, dropping her feet to the ground and rushing out past her.

"Don't be," laughed Missy. "That was hot."

My ears were flaming as I walked past her, trying very hard not to make it too obvious that I had a raging hard on in my pants. Based on the hysterical that followed me, I don't think I hid it very well. I caught up with Bella outside, who was a little pink in the face, but didn't say anything about getting caught making out in the elevator. Instead, she slipped her hand into mine as we walked over to the dining hall, having ran by it this morning.

The dining hall was huge, offering everything from cold cereal to waffles to pancakes to eggs and everything else you could think of. There were two stories to the dining area, and it looked like the entire bottom floor was full. So once Bella and I had our breakfast, her with a bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal and me with cinnamon toast crunch cereal and some orange juice, we headed upstairs.

Maggie and Liam were sitting at a large table towards the back of the room, heads leaning toward each other and whispering furiously. Like they could feel us, they both looked up and stared. Bella snorted and led me toward a small table on the other side of the room from them. We sat down and she picked up her spoon, scooping a large amount of her oatmeal.

"Almost like high school again," she muttered.

"Kind of," I agreed, pouring my milk over my cereal. "Do you think we should explain everything to them?"

Bella pursed her lips as she looked over at them. "No," she said. I followed her gaze and noticed that they were still staring at us. "I think we should just fuck right here and give them a reason to stare."

I burst out laughing, choking on my cereal. Bella fell back in her seat, laughing with me, or at me. Whichever you choose. "Baby, one of these days you are going to randomly say that and I am really going to take you right then and there," I smirked.

"Promise?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"Oh, yeah," I growled. "Hard, too. And fast."

"Tease," she muttered.

"I'm the tease?" I sputtered. "You're the one who keeps teasing me with offers to fuck everywhere and anywhere."

"I'm waiting for you to take me up on one of them," she smirked.

"You're such a fucking vixen, Baby," I purred, slipping my arm around her waist and pulling her chair closer to mine. Lowering my lips down to her ear, I whispered, "And I fucking love you."

"I fucking love you, too," she murmured, turning and kissing me. "Now, let's eat. Our meeting starts in half an hour."

With one last kiss, Bella leaned back over and started eating, looking over her shoulder at Liam and Maggie once more. Placing my arm on the back of her chair, I sighed inwardly. So far, things weren't going nearly as good as we were hoping they would. I hoped it wasn't a mistake for us to come here to go to school.

**Thank you for all the reviews. **


	4. Chapter 4

Bella and I finished eating in silence and headed over to the gym, dumping our trays on the way out. Maggie and Liam were in front of us, constantly looking over their shoulders at us. Each time they did, I could feel Bella tensing up more and more. It took a great deal of effort not to go over and beat both of their asses. So Bella had a fucking nightmare; that was no reason to be acting like she was going to kill both of them in their sleep. Stupid motherfuckers.

The moment we walked into the gym, I felt Bella relax. Looking down at her, I noticed the smile forming on the corner of her lips, eyes sparkling as she took in each and every thing in there. Being in a gym, surrounded by ropes, punching and speed bags, hearing the sound of gloves connecting, those were the sounds of Bella's life.

Slipping my hand into hers, I smiled and pulled her over to where ten or so other people stood with Phil Dwyer. He looked over at us, smile growing wider and nodding his head. Maggie and Liam stood on the other side of the group, watching with anticipation. Perhaps it would be easier if Bella explained to them what was going on, but she wasn't ready and she shouldn't have to. She'd done enough explaining to people, and it was time they just dealt already.

"Well, I'm hoping everyone got settled into their dorms without any problems." Maggie and Liam both rolled their eyes at Phil's statement, but he didn't seem to notice. "Now-"

"Fuck, I thought I was going to be late," panted Missy, rushing into the gym, blond hair flying behind her.

"You were," muttered Phil, tightly. "I know I told you to be here fifteen minutes early."

"Eh, I was busy," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Missy looked around and spotted me and Bella, smile growing. "Hey, it's my favorite elevator peeps!"

Bella blushed. "Melissa-"

"It's Missy, Philip," she gritted out, turning and glaring at Phil, as did the rest of us.

"It's Phil, Melissa," he muttered, jaw clenched tight. Shifting nervously from one foot to the other, he gritted out, "Don't make me call mom."

Missy threw her head back and laughed. "Do it, see if I care," she snickered, shaking her head as she walked over and stood next to Bella, who was shaking with silent laughter. "Pulling the mom card. That's lame."

"Missy!" exclaimed Phil, throwing his hands up.

"Sorry," she giggled, looking over at me and Bella. "Told you I know what you were going through."

"Brother?" asked Bella, nodding to Phil, who was still glaring at Missy.

"Oldest of five," sighed Missy.

"Missy!" snapped Phil, causing her to look over at him.

"Sorry," she said, putting her hands up. "Please continue."

Phil rolled his eyes and looked back at everyone, while Missy folded her arms in front of her and smirked. They reminded me of Bella and Carlisle, or me and Esme. It was almost like being at home. "Now, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted," Phil glared at his sister again, "we have an exciting, but difficult year ahead of us. We've been invited to several tournaments and depending on how we do at those, we have a shot at the NCAA tournament in March."

Everyone in the room, but me and Bella, inhaled sharply. Guess that meant it was a big deal. "Yeah, this is what we've been working on five years. We can do it, and we can win the whole damn thing but it's not going to be easy." Phil paused and looked around at all of us. "This team is the toughest, strongest, most disciplined group of fighters that I have ever seen."

"He's such a sap," whispered Missy, louder than she realized, as everyone turned and looked at her. "Sorry," she muttered, fighting the smile that sprang up on her face. "Continue."

Ignoring his sister, Phil did continue. "But we are going to have to dig deeper inside ourselves and lay it all on the lines." He smiled. "I have all the confidence in all of you." He paused as he looked over at Missy. "Except for you."

Without missing a beat, she flipped him off. Phil laughed. "In case you didn't catch it before, Missy's my little, annoying sister. She's transferring here from Florida State. She's a little bitch but you'll learn to like her."

"Wanker," coughed Missy.

Chuckling, Phil pointed to a short, stalky Native American boy with long, jet black hair and deep eyes. "Let's start with you, Embry. Introduce yourself and tell a little something about you."

"I'm Embry Call, sophomore, and I'm from Oklahoma," he muttered.

Phil smiled and looked at the boy next to him; taller by almost a foot, thin with messy dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. "Next."

"I'm Benjamin Franklin, go ahead and laugh," he said, smiling. Of course, we all laughed. "Yeah, my parents thought they were being cute."

"They were," giggled a girl standing on the other side of Maggie. She was tall, almost as tall as Benjamin, with dark olive skin, long midnight black hair that hung down to her waist, and intense eyes.

"Glad you think so," scoffed Benjamin. "Anyway, I'm a junior and I'm originally from upstate New York."

"I'm Tia Amun," replied the girl next to Maggie. "I'm a freshman and I'm from Texas."

Maggie went next, explaining that she, too, was a freshman and Vegas. Liam placed his hand on the wall behind her, explaining that he came from San Diego and was also a freshman. After him went a short, thin girl who looked like she barely weighed in at a hundred pounds, maybe. She had short chin length brown hair and eyes.

"I'm Brenna Tanner, but everyone calls me Bree. I'm a senior, from Flagstaff, Arizona," she explained.

Next to me, I felt Bella tense up at the mere mention of Arizona. I slipped my hand out of hers, sliding it around her waist as everyone else introduced themselves. Riley Biers went next. The blond haired, hazel eyed junior was from some small town in New Mexico called Clayton. I had never heard of it. Next to him stood Demetri Romans, a senior from Utah. He mumbled under his breath when he spoke, clearly uncomfortable being in the spotlight.

On his other side the last of girls went, Heidi Marks, a long legged blond with expressive blue eyes smiled at everyone as she spoke. "I'm Heidi, a senior from San Francisco."

Phil turned and looked over at me and Bella, waiting for one of us to start. Pulling her to me a little closer, I took the plunge. "Edward Masen, Washington State. Freshman.

"Bella Cullen, same state and year as him," she muttered, nibbling on her bottom lip. Phil nodded minutely at her, before turning to everyone else.

"Well, now that we all know each other, we can get down to business," he started.

For the next hour, Phil droned on and on his expectations for us. He made it clear he didn't accept anything short of perfection and went for our training and our classwork. We were given a curfew and a contract to sign stating that we would not drink, do drugs, or act irresponsibly. Both Bella and I signed it without question, but a few of the others seemed a bit hesitant. In the end, they did.

Phil dismissed us, making sure everyone knew we started trying bright an early tomorrow morning, but asked me and Bella to hang back. As the others left, Maggie and Liam both looked back, shaking their heads and letting the door to the gym close behind them.

"Sorry I couldn't be there to welcome you guys yesterday," he said, hurriedly as he walked around the gym, flicking off lights. "Been a hell of a couple of days." Stopping in front of us, he smiled. "You getting settled and everything?" He asked. Without giving us a chance to respond he walked past us. "Walk with me."

Bella looked up at me before we followed him out of the gym and back outside. For only being in the middle of the morning, the heat was stifling. "It's going to be a hot one today," he sighed, walking down a pathway. Bella and I trekked after him. "I meant what I said in there. We have a good team, a strong team, but they are going to need leaders. Someone willing to push them harder than they've ever been pushed. Who don't stop fighting when the odds tell them that they have no chance of winning." Looking over at us, he smiled again. "Know anyone like that?"

"Not going to happen," snapped Bella, stopping in the middle of one of the courtyards. Phil folded his arms in front of him as he faced us. "No."

"Bella-"

"We're freshman," I snorted. "Nobody is going to listen to what we say."

Phil sighed, running his hands over his face. "Look, I never said it would be easy, but I need you, ok? If our program doesn't start showing some progress, and sooner rather than later, we won't be here next year."

"What?" I asked, heatedly. "You gave us each four year scholarships to fight here!"

"And I hope like hell I can stick with my word. When I made those offers, I didn't know that our program was on the line here," he explained. Shaking his head, he continued. "There are people at this school that would love nothing more than to see us fail. They feel we are a waste of time, space, and money. Now, we've had a handful of backers who, thankfully, disagreed with them and have helped fund our program but they are losing cred with the other alumni. If I can't give them a successful program this year, then we are done, over, and nothing I do will stop it."

Phil paused. "I know this is a lot to ask, and it's not fair for me to expect you both to take this task on, but I can't do this on my own. None of the others have what you have."

"What's that?" Bella asked.

"Heart," he replied. "Fire, determination, whatever the fuck you want to call it." Chuckling, he went on to say, "The first time I saw you two fight in Seattle-"

"Vegas," interrupted Bella. "We were in Vegas."

"No, you were in Seattle, last fall." He smiled. "The look you both had on your faces, the power behind each punch. You were brilliant but I didn't approach you then."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because you weren't ready," he explained. "You both were holding back. When I saw you fight, really fight, in Vegas, I knew you both were ready to be here, to lead this team."

"We're not," insisted Bella.

"You are, you are just too scared to say fuck everything else and do it!" Phil took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Please, just think about it. That's all I'm asking."

Bella went to protest, but I slipped my arm around her waist, and said, "Okay, we'll think about it."

"Good, now go get some lunch and get settled in," he laughed, turning and walking away. Bella waited until he was out of earshot before she turned and glared at me.

"What the hell are you thinking?" she asked.

"I'm thinking there was no way in hell he was letting it go until we agreed to at least think about it," I scoffed. "Come on, let's go eat."

"It's crazy to think we can lead anyone," muttered Bella, letting me hold her hand as we headed back toward the dining hall.

"Yeah, crazy," I agreed.

Bella and I headed inside and grabbed some lunch, opting for just a sandwich, grapes, and a bottle of water before heading back upstairs and finding the same table we had sat at this morning. Maggie and Liam were sitting at a large table with the rest of our team, minus Missy, Benjamin, and Tia. They both looked at us before quickly turning away. Bella gave me a look before we sat down and started eating. We had just finished our sandwiches when Tia and Benjamin joined us.

Benjamin looked over his shoulder, noticing our roommates staring, even if they did try to look away. Turning back to us, he asked, "Is there a reason Liam and Maggie-"

"Mags," Bella reminded him, smirking. "She insists on being called Mags, remember?"

"Right," he nodded. "Is there a reason Liam and Maggie are staring at you two?"

"I'm crazy," said Bella, bluntly.

"Oh, you, too, huh?" he asked, before I could say anything. "Nice not being the only non-crazy one here, right Tia?"

"Yep," she smiled, laying her hand on Benjamin's shoulder. "Us crazies like company."

"Crazy, huh?" snorted Bella, leaning forward and placing her elbow on the table. "Just what makes you crazy?"

"Well, the fact that I left New York to come here," chuckled Benjamin.

"Lame," scoffed Bella, leaning back.

"What do you have?" he countered, smirking.

"I have terrifying nightmares about people, who are dead, slaughtering everyone I know," Bella spoke, bluntly.

"Who doesn't," smiled Benjamin, while Tia looked shocked. "I'm in love with liberal."

"Oh my god, anything but that," mocked Bella, shaking her head. "How dare you!"

Tia laughed. "Don't think my parents aren't asking the same thing. How could they have a daughter who dares thinks outside of the box."

"Oh, the shame," I snickered, placing my arm on the back of Bella's chair.

"I know," sighed Tia, turning toward Benjamin. "Of course, it may be more of my dating outside of my race that has them upset."

"You're from Texas, right?" asked Bella. She nodded. "How did you met him?"

"In Vegas last year." Tia smiled bigger. "We were at the same tournament that you and Edward won."

"Oh, I don't remember you," mumbled Bella.

"I got my ass kicked in the first round by that bitch you beat to win," explained Tia.

"I made it to the fourth round before Liam beat me." Benjamin gestured back to where Liam, Maggie, and the others sat. Looking over his shoulder, I noticed Maggie watching us with a frown on her face. She turned away quickly, and I turned my attention back to our table.

"Anyway, it was the morning of the finals and we were both sitting up in the stands getting ready to watch your match, Bella. I looked over and noticed him staring at me," mused Tia, dreamily.

"I was not staring," muttered Benjamin, blushing around his ears.

"You were staring, probably at my boobs," giggled Tia, leaning up and kissing his cheek.

"Yeah," admitted Benjamin. "But they are really nice boobs, right Edward?"

Bella looked up at me, eyebrow raised. I cleared my throat. "I hadn't really noticed because I love Bella and all other girls are obsolete."

"Good answer, Baby," laughed Bella.

"Smooth, Man, real smooth," nodded Benjamin.

Tia rolled her eyes and went on with her story. "So there he was, just staring at me," explained. "Me, being the shy introvert that I am, went over and sat on his lap, planting a wet kiss on his lips."

Bella and I both laughed. "I, um, clearly didn't expect that and nearly threw her over two seats as I jumped up and ran out of the arena."

"Why would you do that?" guffawed Bella. Benjamin shifted his eyes down to his crotch. "NO!"

"Yep," he admitted. "When I came-" Cue more laughter. "Fuck, when I walked out of the restrooms, Tia was waiting for me," he went on, ignoring me and Bella, who were laughing so hard we had tears. "You two are jerks."

"Oh, come on," giggled Bella. "That's right you already did."

Benjamin's lips twitched as he fought the urge to join us. Finally, he gave up and started laughing with us. "I guess I did."

"That's just..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "Wow, can't believe you admitted that to two people you just met."

"Me either."

"So how did you two meet?" asked Tia.

"Your basic story of boy forcing friendship on girl, even though she told him to fuck off a hundred different ways," replied Bella.

"Not a hundred," I muttered.

Bella smirked. "Ninety-nine, then."

"Whatever," I scoffed. "I got you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you got me," she murmured, laying her head on my shoulder.

Tia smiled. Bella blushed.

"Tia, we should get going, still have to get to the bookstore and buy our books," said Benjamin, standing up.

"Ugh, so do we," grumbled Bella, pushing her chair back from the table.

Bella and I tossed our trash as we followed Benjamin and Tia downstairs and out of the dining hall. Somehow, it had gotten even hotter, and way more humid in the half-hour that we had been inside. The bookstore was crowded, students rushing around trying to get their books before they sold out. The more they pushed, the angrier Bella got, and the more I feared for their safety. Finally, I sent her outside with Tia while Benjamin and I got all our books paid for.

We said goodbye to Benjamin and Tia and headed back to our dorms. Missy was working at the front desk, or flipping through an issue of Entertainment Weekly, actually. She smiled as we walked by and laughed as we stepped into the elevator, commenting that we had better be careful. We ignored her. The door to Bella's room was wide open and Maggie and Liam were sitting on her bed, flipping through a magazine. When we walked in, they both looked up at us, just staring.

"Hey," muttered Bella, dropping her books on her bed.

"Hey," they echoed back, watching her every move like they were afraid to breath. Bella rolled her eyes, looking back at me.

Turning back to Maggie, Bella said, "I know that my nightmare was scary or whatever, and I can't promise that I won't have another one. I could tell you everything, let you know all my dark secrets, but I'm not."

"You're not?" she asked.

Bella shook her head. "I shouldn't have to in order for you to like me."

"I do like you, Bella. I'm just freaked the fuck out," Maggie said. "You weren't just crying in your sleep. You were screaming, thrashing around like someone was holding you down." Bella flinched and I slipped my arms around her. "I don't need to know all your fucking secrets. I need to know that I don't have to worry about you freaking out every fucking night!"

"I can't promise you that I won't have nightmares," groused Bella. "You don't understand."

"Of course, she doesn't understand," muttered Liam. "You aren't explaining anything."

"Why should she?" I asked, a little pissed off. "It was just a nightmare, not like she was throwing shit. She's fine now, and that's all that should really matter."

"Guess the rumors are true then," mumbled Maggie, and Bella tensed up.

"Rumors, huh?" she gritted out, fists clenched together. "Listen to all the fucking rumors you want, I don't give a fuck.."

Bella turned and walked out of her room, leaving me, Liam, and Maggie there. The latter two stared at her with their mouths wide open. I chuckled darkly and shook my head. "You know," I said, causing them to look over at me, "she's been through this all before. The rumors, the whispers and gossip."

Pausing, I brought my hand up to the back of my neck. "She doesn't deserve to be treated like this just because she doesn't want to explain about her nightmare." Turning, I walked over to the door, gripping the handle in my hand and said, "Remember, that rumors are a dangerous truth to believe."

With that said, I shut the door and walked down to my room, where Bella and I spent the rest of the day, laying on my bed and pretending that we were back home.

**Thank you for all the reviews and support.**


	5. Chapter 5

Panting, I pushed myself harder, trying to keep up with the beautiful brunette in front of me. Focused solely on her run, she pushed herself harder, moving that much further in front of me. If my legs weren't burning, and my chest didn't feel like it was on fire, I might have enjoyed the view a little more. Bella was a woman on a mission.

I couldn't really blame her. We'd been at UCLA for two weeks, and while the nightmares had started to back off, Maggie and Liam weren't. Every morning, they stared at us, mainly her, waiting for us, or her, to freak out and start knocking people off or something. Even though she pretended it didn't bother her, it did. Bella had worked so hard trying to move on with her life, and finally deal with her parents' betrayal. It hadn't been easy or fun for her but she'd been trying, but I guess that really didn't mean anything to them. Maybe she should just tell them why she needed time to adjust but, she shouldn't have to. She'd more than earned the right to keep her life private.

After running for another ten minutes, Bella finally slowed down to a stop, bending at the waist, placing her hands on her knees. I slid to a stop behind her, putting my hands behind my head, taking a deep breath. My body ached.

Looking over her shoulder, she smiled, "You gonna puke?"

"Maybe," I chuckled. She laughed, lunging her left leg forward, stretching out her muscles. I tried to stifle my moan as her red shorts stretched across her ass, but I couldn't.

Smirking, she laughed, "See something you like, baby?"

"You're so fucking hot," I growled, stalking up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist, pressing my obvious arousal into her. "Fuck, baby."

Bella giggled, wiggling her way out of my grasp, but not before rubbing her ass against my cock. Smirking, she turned, taking several steps backward, nibbling on her bottom lip. "You want me?"

"Yes," I hissed, cock twitching. She was so sexy.

"Then you gotta catch me."

Taunting me, she took off running, leaving me with my mouth wide open. Shuddering, I took off after her, knowing my cock wouldn't be happy until it was buried deep inside of her, where it belonged. Running into the dorms, she bypassed the elevator, taking the stairs two at a time. I followed.

She was on the fourth staircase when I caught her, pinning her to the wall, back against my front. Making sure she felt every inch of my arousal, I lowered my lips, sucking on her sweat covered skin. Pushing into me, she moaned, grabbing my hair. Pulling my lips off her neck, she slid away from me, panting.

"Come here," I ordered, holding my hand out to her.

Nibbling on that fucking lip, she shook her head. "Come on, lover."

Taking off up the stairs, my cock twitched, watching her legs climb away from me. She would be the death of me for sure.

I took off after her, tossing her over my shoulder as we reached the fifth floor landing. Bella squealed, slapping my ass. My cock twitched again. Kneading her thigh, I rushed down to my dorm room, playing like hell Liam was gone. I fumbled, trying to get my key out of my pocket, I unlocked the door, throwing it open. Bella giggled as I tossed her on my bed, slamming the door shut, flicking the lock.

Hastily, I climbed onto the bed, pulling her tank top off, tossing it onto the floor, before pushing her sports bra up, and leaning down, capturing one of her perky nipples. Moaning, she gripped my hair, pulling again, but I wouldn't release her. I needed to taste her skin, to feel her body moving with mine. Stripping off the last of our clothing, I settled myself between her legs, pushing into her in one quick thrust.

"Fuck," she grasped, yanking my head back.

Pausing, I took a moment to gain some control, but feeling her wrapped around me, hugging me, nearly pushed me over the edge. Gripping her thigh in my hand, I pulled her leg over my hip, setting a slow, but steady pace. Every time we were together like this, I felt at home, where I was supposed to be. Bella grabbed my hair, pulling my lips down into hers. Our lips moved together in time with our bodies, taking each moan and whimper.

Crying out against my lips, and pulling my head back, Bella clenched around me, pulling me over the edge with her. Shuddering, I found my release, stilling my hips against her. Kissing her once more, I collapsed on her, letting her feel the weight of my body on top of hers.

Bella and I startled when the doorknob rattled, indicating that Liam was on his way in. Scrambling off the bed, I managed to stop him from opening the door. Bella pulled on her clothes, ignoring the string of profanities being thrown at us from the other side. She tossed me my shorts and t-shirt, which I slipped on before opening the door.

Liam glared at the two of us, storming in. "This is my fucking room, too," he spat, grabbing his backpack off his desk.

"Yet, you've been in my room so much, I forgot," quipped Bella, walking past him, and out into the hall. He looked back at me, steaming at the ears.

"Don't," I warned, grabbing my shower stuff from my closet. "We'll do what we fucking want, when we fucking want to. If you don't like it, you can get the fuck out."

"We're trying, you know," he grumbled, as I walked to the door. I stopped and looked back at him. "But you're not making this easy for either of us."

"What's so hard about it?" I pressed. "Bella needed time, but she's fine now."

"We know, but..."

"There are no buts, dude," I scoffed. "She had a few nightmares. You don't need to know what they were about. We've tried to be your friends but you'd rather stare at the two of us, or whisper about us to the others. We left high school back in Washington, man. Did you?"

Letting the door close behind me, I headed down to the bathroom and took a shower. When I got back to the room, he was gone. Shaking my head, I knew he would be. Neither he nor Maggie wanted to face the fact that they overreacted in the first place. Tossing my dirty clothes in my basket, I got ready for the day, slipping on some shorts and a black t-shirt with a pair of fangs on them. It was lame, but Bella gave it to me.

Grabbing my backpack, I headed down to the elevator, knowing that she would be waiting for him. There she stood, leaning against the wall, feet crossed at the ankle, hands shoved into the pockets of her tight jeans. Bobbing her head slowly, I knew she was listening to her music, blocking the rest of the world out, at least for a few minutes. Walking over, I tugged one of her hands out of her pocket, pushing the button on the elevator.

Looking up at me from under her lashes, she smiled, "Hey."

"Hi," I murmured, leaning down, kissing her. She giggled, pulling back. "Let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

"I could give you something to eat," she purred, tugging on my hand. I moaned as we stepped into the elevator. My little minx.

Bella and I were good and didn't get too carried away in the elevator. Or, we tried not to, anyway. Making our way across campus, we headed into the dining hall, grabbed our breakfast and headed up to our usual table. Benjamin and Tia were already there, snuggling close and kissing. Clearing her throat, Bella dropped her tray on the table, causing them to jump apart.

"Oh, sorry," she snarked, sitting down. They rolled their eyes, turning back to their food.

"It's not like we've never had to watch you two sucking face," quipped Benjamin.

I shook my head, Bella leaned forward, placing her elbow on the table. "It's not like we have to worry about arriving too early, though," she teased. He groaned, falling back in his seat while me, Bella, and Tia laughed.

"You're such a bitch," he grumbled, stabbing his eggs with his fork.

"Oh, I know," laughed Bella, but it came out dry, and humorless. Following her gaze, I noticed she was staring at Maggie, who had her eyes glued to the table in front of her. "Nothing I haven't been told before."

Slipping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her closer to me, trying to assure her that everything was okay. Benjamin and Tia turned back to their food, as did me and Bella. Lifting my eyes back over, I saw Maggie and Liam watching us, frowns on both of their faces. Sighing, I turned back to my breakfast, and started eating. Nothing we did right now would make them see that we weren't the problem.

Once we were done, the four of us tossed our trash and headed off to class. Benjamin and Tia headed over to the science building, while Bella headed to her history class, and I headed to my math class. They were such a waste of time, but seeing as our scholarships relied on us to keep a certain grade point average, we'd muscle through it somehow.

For the rest of the morning, I sat in my seat, listening to one boring lecture after another. With only one class left, I headed into the classroom, searching for a free seat. Tia sat in the back row, leaning her head against the wall with her eyes closed. Smirking, I walked back, slamming my book on her desk. She snapped her eyes open, springing forward.

Hitting me in the arm, quite hard, she spat, "You fucking jerk."

I laughed, plopping into the seat next to her, "You should be paying better attention."

Tia rolled her eyes, leaning toward me. "Can I say something without you wigging out on me?"

"I don't know, can you?" I countered, raising an eyebrow at her. She didn't laugh. "What's on your mind, Tia?"

"You and Bella are the best boxers on our team. There's no point in denying it. You both need to stop pussyfooting around and lead us."

Sighing, I turned away. "You know," I started, "everyone wants us to lead, but how open are they really going to be to us pushing them to stop fucking around?"

"Probably more than you think," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Look, it's not going to be easy, but I can promise you that me and Benjamin are behind you both."

"Yeah?" I wondered. She nodded. "Thanks, but you're just two out of how many?"

"You'd be surprised of who's already behind you, Edward." She leaned back in her chair, turning her attention to the front as our professor came in.

Class went by painfully slow, all I could think about were Tia's words. She was right about this team needing leadership, I just didn't think it needed to be more or Bella. We were freshman, no way would anyone listen to anything we had to say. We were on the bottom of the totem pole as far as they were concerned.

Once we'd been dismissed, Tia headed down to meet Benjamin at the library, while I headed over to the gym to meet Bella. We met there every day after our last class of the day, working out for a few hours. It'd had become a habit in Forks, why change it now. Besides, I knew that she felt normal inside the gym.

When I walked in, she'd already changed, and was sitting on the mats, stretching. Her long legs, spread open, fingers touching her toes, and forehead resting on the blue mat. Feeling my eyes on her, she turned, looking right at me. A huge smile spread across her face, she was beautiful. Absolutely incredible.

"Are you just going to stand there?" she teased. "Are you scared I'll beat you?"

"Nope," I chuckled, winking. "Just admiring the view."

Turning away, she blushed. I headed into the dressing room, and changed quickly. When I walked back out, Bella was laying in the middle of the ring, headgear on, hands taped, and gloves laying next to her. I grabbed my stuff, and climbed into the ring next to her. Crawling across the ring, I straddled her waist, a breathtaking smile spread across her lips.

"I've got you now," I taunted. Her eyes fluttered open.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"Love you forever, once I kick your ass," I smirked. Bella laughed, pushing me off of her. I fell back, moaning.

"Oh, yeah, you're a real tough guy." She scrambled to her feet, picking up her gloves. "Show me how tough you are."

Shaking my head, I stood up, taped my hands, and pulled on my gloves, and headgear. I would regret this, I knew I would, but fighting Bella was worth it. She wouldn't hold back, she'd be offended if I held back. Finishing up my gloves, I turned, prepared to fight her.

With a smirk, Bella came at me, throwing a left hook, followed closely by a right uppercut. I blocked both, trying to counter with a left roundhouse, but being quicker than me, she blocked the punch. Moving to my right, Bella followed, mirroring me step for step. I attacked with a roundhouse/uppercut combination. She stumbled back two steps, but snapped her eyes up to mine. She was ready to really fight now.

Tightening her arms to her side, she stepped to the left, squaring her shoulders. Her fists flew up from her sides, an uppercut to my jaw, followed by a gut check to my right side. Stifling my moan, I hit her in her right side, just under her breasts, and threw an extra jab, but she blocked it. Pushing me further into the ropes, she assaulted my body, alternating gloves. I barely managed to shove her off of me, moving before she was able to recover. Damn, she had iron fists.

Shuffling my feet, I managed to move behind her. Spinning, she wasn't prepared for my left jab. Following quickly with my right hook, left roundhouse, I managed to get a few hits in before she attacked again. Striking the side of my head, my jaw, and my ribs. I winced.

Throwing my arms around her, I pulled her to my chest, spitting my mouth piece into my glove. "I give."

Behind us, came the sounds of several people clapping. Breaking apart, we looked back to see Phil, Missy, Heidi, Demetri, and Embry standing in the doorway, watching us. Bella tensed, ripping her gloves off and spitting her mouth piece out.

"Wow, you're both so fast," murmured Missy, running over and climbing into the ring.

"Shoes, Missy," hissed Phil.

Rolling her eyes, Missy kicked her flip flops off, throwing them at him. Turning back to us, she smiled wider. "Seriously, I've never seen fists moving so fast."

"Or hard," snorted Demetri, while he, Heidi, Embry, and Phil leaned against the ropes on the outside of the ring. "You two do a lot of strength training?"

"Yeah," I muttered, yanking my headgear off.

"Hmm," hummed Heidi, shifting her eyes between the two of us. "You were okay. Kind of weak if you ask me."

"Good thing, we didn't ask you," grumbled Bella, climbing out of the ring on the opposite side. "You wouldn't know how to throw a real punch if it came up and hit you in the face."

"Bitch," she spat.

Bella froze, before turning to glare at her. She'd just dug her own grave. Shifting my gaze to Phil, I expected him to step in before Bella said every thought that drifted through her mind, but he smirked, crossing his arms in front of him. Walking around to the other side of the ring, Bella stopped in front of Heidi, who turned to faced her. Reaching down, Bella grabbed her arm, yanking up, putting her hand around the joint connecting her arm to her shoulder. Heidi winced.

"You feel that?" sneered Bella, pressing down. Heidi nodded. "You're tearing your shoulder apart because you're lazy. Instead of using your body behind your punches, you're throwing weak shit. Adjust your body angle by five percent, and you'll be knocking them on their asses. Don't, and you'll need reconstructive surgery within a year. Your choice."

Bella dropped her arm, heading over to the weights, "Call me a bitch again, I'll be the one kicking your ass."

Snickering at the flabbergasted look on all of their faces, I followed Bella over and set her weight, spotting her while she lifted. Demetri, Heidi, Missy, and Embry came over and started lifting with us, but didn't say anything. Phil smirked before heading into his office. I knew exactly what the smug bastard was thinking; Bella had just proven that we should be leading this team. The problem would be, making everyone else see it, too.

**Thank you. See you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

Dropping my pencil into my bag, I huffed out of frustration and stood up. Grabbing my bag off the floor, I clutched my test in my other hand, stalking to my professor's desk, and adding my test to the small pile. He nodded his head, but didn't look at me. His eyes were darting around the room, making sure nobody violated the honor code by cheating.

I headed over to the door, looking back at Bella. She was bent over her test, focused on finishing as fast as she could. Professor Johnson cleared his throat, gesturing to the door. Sighing, I left the classroom, letting the door shut behind me. Sliding against the wall, I settled on the floor outside of the door, dug my iPod out of my bag, setting it to my favorite playlist, Staind, and waited.

It's been just over a month since Bella and I arrived at school with the expectations to lead our boxing teams toward a championship, but, like we expected, they'd been less than enthusiastic.

_Leaning back on my hands, I looked around the gym. The rest of the team and I were sitting around on the mat after a rather hard practice. Phil had us working on the speed bag, trying to increase our stamina, based on all the puffing and panting around us, they certainly needed more work. Bella straightened her legs out in front of her, reaching out to grab her toes. Being the perverted boyfriend that I am, I looked at her ass. I admit it. _

_Next to me, Benjamin snorted, dragging my attention off my girlfriend's very firm, round ass. Shaking my head, I tried to will my hard on to go down, but he didn't want to play nice today. Smirking, Bella looked over her shoulder, eyes dropping to my lap. Based on the knowing smile on her lips, she knew just how hard I was for her. _

"_Okay, listen up." Phil clapped his hands together once, gathering our attention. "Good work-out today, but we need to move past good and strive for excellence." Pausing, he shifted his eyes over, looking between me and Bella. "Which is why I've decided what our team needs is strong leadership."_

"_Holy fuck," gasped Bella, just loud enough for me to hear her, and sat up, a look of pure horror creeping over her face. "He wouldn't."_

"_Oh, he would," I muttered, grinding my teeth._

_She glared at Phil, but he waved her off. "Our team is full of strong fighters, who have proven time and again what an asset they are to us." Shifting his eyes over to us again, he sighed. "However, it's not enough."_

_The only word to describe the look on everyone's face, could be shock. Bella lifted an eyebrow, giving me a look. I shrugged my shoulders, answering her silent question. Guess they did like mediocrity._

_Phil cleared his throat. "Our team captain need to be someone who's gonna push us to do our best, even when that means telling us to fucking suck it up and quit bitching." Heidi shifted uncomfortably, looking back at Bella, who smiled at her. Stifling my urge to laugh, I slipped my arm around my girl's waist. She could such a bitch, but I fucking loved her. "Which is why, I've decided to make Bella and Edward our team captains."_

_With thirteen little words, everyone turned, staring at us with gaping mouths, and wide eyes._

_To be honest, Bella and I both tried to warn Phil that the rest of the team wouldn't be accepting to our placement as team captains, but the man didn't want to listen. With the exception of Benjamin, Tia, and Missy, who fell back laughing, commenting on "how fucking awesome" we were, everyone else started yelling, cursing at him about how we were just freshmen and couldn't handle the job. I stopped listening, and stood up, pulling Bella up with me. _

"_Shut the fuck up," I snapped. Turning their glares onto us, they stopped talking. "You think we asked for this? We didn't, but until one of you chooses to stand up and lead, I guess it's our job, isn't it?" Looking at each of them, I chuckled. "That's what I thought. I suggest each of you think real hard about what you want out of this year, because we want to win. Do you?"_

Bella and I grabbed our stuff from the locker rooms and headed back to the dorms, showering before settling in her room to study. It's been three days since then, and not one word has been uttered by any of our teammates, except for Benjamin, Tia, and Missy. They seemed to support this ludicrous idea that we could somehow lead a team that didn't want our leadership.

"Jesus fucking Christ, could that test be any harder?" groused Bella, stumbling out of the classroom. Laughing to myself, I pulled my iPod out of my ears, shoving it back into my bag, and stood up.

"You aced it, I know you did." Leaning over, I kissed the side of her head. "Bet you get the highest grade in the class."

"I don't know, number thirteen was a real son of a bitch," she fretted, pulling on her bottom lip. Slipping my hand into hers, I pulled.

"Come on, let's go grab some lunch," I suggested, knowing that she'd be freaking out about that one problem for the next few hours. It's just how Bella worked. I knew it, and accepted it.

"Okay," she sighed.

When we walked outside, we groaned, breathing in the warm, humid air around us. Even after a month, we hadn't gotten used to the weather here. While I never thought I'd say this, I missed the cool, misty climate in Forks. Bella and I headed over to the dining hall, stowing our bags, and grabbing some lunch. Since we had a long practice this afternoon, we grabbed a bigger lunch than we normally would, knowing that we needed to keep our strength up. Loading our trays with baked potatoes, salads, and salisbury steak, we added a roll, and headed up to our usual table, surprised when we found Liam and Maggie sitting next to Benjamin and Tia.

Feeling her tense up next to me, I balanced my tray on one hand, placing my free hand on her back, and led her over to the table. We set our lunch down, sliding into the two vacant seats across from Benjamin and Tia, both of whom were staring at their food. Several slow, awkward minutes passed while the six of us sat there, waiting for someone to say something, anything that would explain why Liam and Maggie suddenly decided make a move.

"Wow, this is..." Benjamin trailed off, spearing a grape on his fork and popping it into his mouth.

Leaning back in her chair, Bella shifted her eyes over to Maggie. "Why?"

"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "You scared me, Bella."

Looking away, Bella brought her hand up, covering her heart. Slipping my arm around her, I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. "I had a nightmare. That's all."

"It wasn't just a nightmare," mumbled Maggie. "I have two little sisters, Bella. I've seen, and heard, more than my fair share of nightmares. You were screaming. Tears were pouring down your face, and you were fighting off someone, someone who wasn't even there."

Bella flinched, angling her body toward me. I tightened my arms around her. "I..." Taking a deep breath, she slid her hand into mine. "I shouldn't have to tell you everything, in order for you to like me."

"I do like you," insisted Maggie, "but seeing you like that...I don't know how to process what I saw."

"And you think if you know the dirty details, then you'd be able to handle it better?" I scoffed. "You have no idea the hell that some people can go through, only to come out fighting demons at every motherfucking turn."

"Better we know than we rely on what we get from the internet," muttered Liam. Bella snapped her head up, glaring at him.

"You fucking searched for us on the net?" she snarled.

"You two didn't give us much of a choice, Bella." He shook his head. "You were screaming for them not to kill Edward, for fuck sake."

Drawing the attention of those around us, I noticed the rest of our team watching us, waiting to hear just what Liam had found on us. With a heavy sigh, I realized they would never trust us to lead them if they thought they couldn't trust in us. As long as we kept everything to ourselves, the worse everything would get. Standing up, I pulled Bella to her feet, slipping my arm down around her waist.

"You want to know everything?" Looking around, I saw them all nod their head. "Meet us at the gym. We won't talk about this shit here. Just so you know, you're all a bunch of cunt bastards for doing this."

Tucking Bella closer against me, we left them all sitting there, mouths agape, and our food untouched. She was shaking, but I couldn't do anything to make it better. She knew, just like I did, that we had to do this. It would be the hardest moment for both of us, neither of us ever talked about that island, or what we had endured over those few days, but now, we had to in order to gain the trust of our team. Life sucked major ass sometimes.

Our walk across campus felt like it took hours, when it in reality, it only took a few minutes. Bella never said a word, but she never let go of me, either. I offered what I could, trying to be the support she needed, but sometimes, I wasn't enough. Knowing what, or who, she needed. I dug my cell phone out of my bag, finding Carlisle's number, and hitting talk. Holding the phone out to her, she smiled before taking it in her hand, pulling it up to her ear.

"It's me," she whispered, voice laced with fear. "Not too good right now...I don't know. Everyone wants to know about it all, and we've been telling them to fuck off, but they're not letting it go...That's what Edward said."

While Bella talked to Carlisle, I led us into the gym, pulled us down on the mats. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arm around them, trying to keep herself from falling apart. Leaning on one arm, I kept my other arm wrapped around her waist, leaning my forehead on her shoulder.

"I miss you, too," whimpered Bella, sliding her hand up to her face, wiping away the tears slipping down her cheeks. "I know, Car...Tell Em and Jas I love them, okay? Esme, too," she muttered, holding the phone out to me. "He wants to talk to you."

Nodding, I took my phone from her. "Carlisle."

"What the fuck is going on, boy?" he hissed.

"Wish I knew," I muttered, leaning away from Bella. Reaching out, she grabbed my hand, pulling me back to her. "I've got you, baby."

"Ugh, I didn't need to hear that shit," grumbled Carlisle.

"Too fucking bad, because she needed to hear it," I snapped.

"Shit, Edward, is it that bad?"

"Yeah, it's that bad," I muttered, when the door to the gym opened. The rest of our team filed in, looking uncomfortable, but eager to get the dirt, too. "Gotta go, Carlisle. Be close to the phone, just in case."

"I will. Take care of her," he groused.

"I always do," I mumbled, closing my phone.

Tossing it onto the mats next to me, I tightened my arm around Bella, while everyone settled down around us. Once again, we found ourselves pushing through several awkward moments, waiting for one of us to say something, anything that would validate their negative opinions of us, and, perhaps, have reason to get us out of here.

"I used to have a normal life," began Bella, tugging her knees closer to her chest. "Perfect, even. Well, as perfect as any family can be. But one day, everything changed."

Leaning toward me, she began telling everyone about the night her parents were nearly killed, and she was left behind. While she spoke, I held her, hoping and praying she'd be able to push through this, too. With each new, horrifying detail she shared, the looks on everyone's faces ranged from disgust to sorrow to fear and loathing. Benjamin held Tia in his arms, soothing her silent tears. Both of them knew there were parts of Bella and I that we didn't talk about, and unlike the rest of the people sitting around us, they respected us enough to let it be, to give us time to decide when, or if, we'd ever want to share the hell we went through.

Through heavy tears, Bella pushed through, detailing the events on the island, and how she learned that her parents had been alive while she lived through hell. By the time she finished, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Turning toward me, Bella buried her face in my chest, and letting me love her.

"Did you hear what you needed?" Spinning around, we found Phil leaning against the doorway to his office, a look of utter disgust etched on his face. "Does hearing the nitty, gritty details help?" Looking around at each of us, he stopped when he got to me and Bella. "Neither of you owed them, or me, an explanation. I'm sorry they put you in that position."

"We didn't mean to piss you off," muttered Embry, shifting his eyes off the floor, up to us. "But you have to see it from our point of view. You're loners, and kind of mean bitches."

"And you thought it would make us all warm and fussy if we shared the painful details of our lives with you?" I bit out with a shake of my head. "We've done nothing, but try to fit in here. We came from a school, fuck a town, that branded us social outcasts, because we refused to conform to what they thought was normal." Standing up, I pulled Bella up to her feet. "We hoped this place would be different, but it's not. Just the same old bullshit."

Heading over to the locker rooms, I pushed open the door to the ladies room for Bella. She looked up at me, eyes swimming with tears. Leaning down I kissed her. "Meet me in two, we'll go run, okay?" Nodding, she left me standing there. I shifted my eyes back over to everyone. "Not a goddamn one of you will ever understand what you asked her to do today, but then again, not a goddamn one of you gives a fuck, either."

Throwing open the door to the men's locker room, I rushed over to my locker, changing quickly. Stuffing everything into my locker, I slammed the door shut and headed back out. Bella stood next to the front doors, iPod already on, eyes trained on the floor. Slipping my arm around her, I looked back at Phil. "We won't be here for practice."

"Kind of figured as much," he mumbled.

Pulling her behind me, I lead her outside, sticking my earphones in my ear and picking my playlist, the best of Poison. Bella took off, running harder and faster than I had seen her since the morning we arrived here. I tucked my iPod into my pocket, and followed, hoping that somehow, I'd be able to keep her together. Every time she had to relive those moments, a piece of her soul died away.

I expected her to run to the edge of campus before turning back the other way, but she didn't. She kept running right through the front entrance, crossing traffic, and pushing herself to move faster. Following her, I dug deep, trying to keep up with her. My t-shirt was saturated with sweat, sticking to my torso and back. Trickles fell down my face, dropping onto my shirt. My hair flopped in my face, but I kept going. I'd always follow her.

We were in the middle of a park when Bella dropped to her knees, screaming, "Why! Why couldn't they just leave it alone!"

Dropping down next to her, I pulled her to me. "I don't know, baby. I wish I did."

"I've tried to just be...normal, or whatever," she cried, melting into my embrace. "Am I just doomed to always have people gawking at me?"

"Baby, you didn't do anything," I tried soothing her. "They were nosy, wanting to know shit that wasn't their business. We shouldn't have had to tell them."

"I'm starting to wonder why we came here," she muttered, shifting so that she sat between my legs, body facing mine. "Maybe we should have stayed in Forks. Just gone to UW or something."

"You mean hide," I replied, bringing my hand up to the back of her neck, pulling her lips to mine. "Baby, sooner or later, we were going to face the day when we had to move on from the past. Maybe this is our chance to put everything behind us."

"I don't like thinking about last year, or the three years before that," she whimpered, tugging her knees to her chest. "I just want to move on, and be happy, like I am with you."

"You will be, baby. Just gotta ignore those assholes, and fight. Never stop fighting," I urged, looking her right in the eye. "Besides, we have each other, right? That's all we need."

"You're never leaving me," she declared, straddling my lap. My hands went straight to her ass, cupping a cheek in each hand.

"Never," I promised.

Leaning in, she captured my lips, grinding her hips down on me. I wanted her. I wanted her bad, but in the middle of park was not the place for me to take her. I pulled myself away from her, ignoring her cries of protest. She pouted, but I held fast, slipping my arm around her waist, and leading us back toward campus.

Once were back on campus, we headed back to the gym, knowing by now that everyone would be long gone. Hours had passed since we left, not that they cared, anyway. All they wanted were the dirty details, something to gossip about, or leverage to validate their opinions about us. At the very least, make them feel better about their pathetic lives. It didn't matter, anyway. My girl was tucked into my arms, and, soon, she'd be tucked into my bed, as well.

When we walked in, Phil was pacing back and forth in the middle of the ring. Looking up when the door opened, he sighed. "You two okay?"

"Does it matter?" quipped Bella, heading for the locker rooms.

"Yes, it matters," he called out. "You matter."

She paused, one hand on the door, and looked over her shoulder at him. "Do I? You only brought us here to help your program, right?"

"That's not the only reason, even though it is a reason," he muttered, shifting his eyes to the floor. "I'd never seen someone fight like you do, Bella. The focus, the power, the need to win..." Letting his words hang in the air, he shook his head. "I can't teach them to love the feeling of the ropes around you. The spring in the mats. The thrill that comes from knowing that the person across from you has absolutely no chance in beating you."

"You think I can?" she snarled.

"Yes, I do," he admitted, looking up at her. "You don't see the look on your face when you are standing here." He gestured to the middle of the ring. "It's beautiful."

Letting her hand drop from the door, she crossed the room, climbing into the ring with him. Running her hands over to ropes, she closed her eyes. "My father, before everything happened, would tell us in order to be a good fighter, the ring had to feel like home. I used to think he was full of shit, but..." Letting go of the ropes, she wiped a stray tear off her cheek. "They will never trust us, Phil. None of them will be able to look past the horror, and listen to a goddamn thing we have to say."

"They will," he urged. "They just need time."

Shaking her head, Bella climbed out of the ring, looked up at him. "It's not our fight to make them like us, or accept us."

"So you're just going to give up?" he huffed.

"No," I replied, drawing attention onto myself, "we're gonna survive. Together, we've faced more than we should have to, but we lived through it. And like we did last time, we'll live through this, too. We're not gonna beg them to want us, but we're not quitters, either."

Without another word, Bella and I headed into the locker room, changing from our workout clothes and back into our regular stuff. When I walked out of the locker room, Phil was still standing in the rings, leaning against the ropes. With a look of sorrow and grief covering his face, he lifted his eyes up to mine.

"I didn't think everyone would react like this." He sighed.

"You couldn't have known," I lied, feeling like he should have at least had an idea of what would happen with Bella and I coming here.

Perhaps, he couldn't have known about the reaction from Liam and Maggie over one silly nightmare, but the reaction over his decision to declare us team captains. The door to the ladies locker room opened, Bella came rushing out. Pausing for just a moment to look over at Phil, she met me at the door, slipping her hand into mine. Letting the door close behind us with a heavy sigh, we left the gym, and headed back to the dorms, where we could just be us.

We stopped outside my room first, but could hear Liam and Maggie inside. Not ready to face them, we headed down to her room, locking the deadbolt behind us. With one look between us, we took the time to strip off the other's clothes, falling into bed with our arms and legs wrapped around each other. Gentle kisses, soft touches, we made love, letting our bodies speak for our hearts and souls. Snuggling her up to my chest, we drifted off to sleep.

The morning came all too soon when someone started banging on her bedroom door. Muttering a series of four letter words, Bella scrambled out of bed, pulling on my t-shirt and her panties. Rolling onto my stomach, I rubbed my eyes and watched her stumble over to the door, yanking it open.

"WHAT?" she roared, however my eyes locked on the two people standing in the door way. Carlisle and Esme.


	7. Chapter 7

Shoving Bella out of the way, Carlisle launched himself at me. I was quick enough to scramble off the bed, managing to keep the sheet around my waist. Snarling under his breath, he turned toward me, nostrils flaring and disgust pouring off of him. I backed into the wall, holding one hand up, while keeping the sheet around my waist. The last thing I wanted would be for my sister to see all of me, I shuddered at the thought.

"Car, calm down," yelled Bella, grabbing onto his shoulder. He growled, giving her the deadliest look from over his shoulder. Her eyes widen and she let go, shooting me a sad look. Guess that meant she's not helping me.

"Carlisle, man-"

"Shut the fuck up," he snapped, and I did. Placing his hand on my chest, he looked back at Bella. "Out."

"But this is my room," she whined, stomping her foot. If I wasn't standing naked in front of her oldest, and most protective brother, I would have laughed.

"Isabella," he hissed, pulling out her full name, "if you don't get your ass out of this room, I'm calling Alice and telling her you need to go shopping."

Bella gasped, shifting her eyes over to me. "Sorry, Edward."

"It's okay, baby," I replied, knowing I had to face him like a man.

Gathering her jeans off the floor, she grabbed her room key, and stepped out into the hallway with Esme, who didn't seem to know what to say. The moment the door closed, Carlisle removed his hand from mine, kicking my clothes toward me, and choosing to sit at Bella's desk. Grabbing them off the floor, I got dressed, trying to decide exactly how to handle this situation. It's not like they didn't know we had sex, and it was time for Carlisle to get a grip when it came to me and Bella. Whether he liked it or not, I wasn't going anywhere.

Leaving the button on my shorts undone, I sat on Bella's bed, feeling awkward seeing as she'd been wearing my shirt when he kicked her out of the room. Leaning with his elbows on his knees, Carlisle clasped his hands together, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. The silence was deafening.

"We're not going to talk about how I've made it clear that you and my sister aren't to be spending the night in each other's rooms," he began, lifting his eyes up to mine. "I'm not stupid, Edward, and I know that you two have had sex," he gritted. "I'm worried about her. She's barely hanging on, isn't she?"

"She's okay," I lied, knowing he'd never believe me.

Just like I knew he would, he rolled his eyes, leaning back in the chair, and crossing his arms in front of him. "You lie for shit, boy," he grumbled.

Sighing, I shook my head. "What do you expect me to say?" I scoffed. "She's trying, but it's hard when people are in your face all the time, demanding that you put yourself on the line."

"Nightmares again?" he guessed, or maybe he knew. Nodding, I confirmed what he already suspected. "Fuck, I knew coming to school here would be too much for her. I should have insisted she stay at home, go to school at UW."

"As if you could have," I muttered.

"I could have," he grumbled, lying to himself as much as to me.

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "How would you have protected her from the jackals there?"

"I don't know," he replied, knowing as well as I did that he couldn't.

"Our roommates got scared, and instead of just moving on, and listening when we told them we needed time, they pushed until she finally told them. If you'd seen the looks on their faces..." I trailed off, running my hands through my hair. "They pitied us. How are we supposed to be able to lead them when they don't trust us?"

"You can't." He shrugged his shoulders. "But how can you expect them to follow when you don't believe in them?"

"We don't want them to follow," I stated. "We just want to fight."

He nodded, standing up. Picking up a picture of him, Bella, Emmett, and Jasper off her desk, a faint smile spread across his face. It was then that I realized that while he claimed to have come for her, he really came for himself, needing to see that she was okay. Even though her struggles were as clear as day, so were his. Carlisle's need to protect his sister could only be called admirable.

"Bella was born nearly ten weeks early," he started. I sat on her bed, listening. "I was fighting in a tournament for junior boxers in Flagstaff when our mom's water broke. She didn't say anything until I won, claiming that she didn't want to be any trouble." Placing the picture back on the shelf, Carlisle looked back at me. "Bella spent nearly a month in the hospital because her lungs were weak, and she wouldn't eat," he continued.

"She still doesn't eat the way she should," I chuckled.

"It's how she copes with her feelings," he sighed, sitting back down. "Before everything happened, and she would be upset about some comment one of the male fighters would make about her just being a girl, I'd take her out for pizza, knowing that I'd be able to get her to eat. It didn't work so well after everything, though."

"Is that why you're here?" I snipped. "To make sure she's eating?"

Inhaling sharply, he shifted his eyes to mine. "No, when I talked to her yesterday, it was like talking to her before you came into her life," he muttered.

"I know, she had a rough day," I admitted. "But you didn't need to come here to check on her. I told you I'd take care of her, and I did."

"Yeah, right into bed," he groused.

Shaking my head, I stood up, placing my hands on my hips. "You know, I've about had it with you and your inability to trust me. I've proven over and over that I will not hurt her. I love Bella, and she loves me. We're fine."

"Boy, it's a good thing you do love my sister, or I'd kick your ass for talking to me like that, but the last thing I want is to piss her off."

"Yeah?" I quipped. "You pissed her off the moment you kicked her out of her room."

Shifting his eyes over to the door, I watched him swallow thickly, knowing he'd have to face her wrath sooner, rather than later. Bringing his hand up to his jaw, he rubbed against the stubble, no doubt trying to decide what he should do to sooth her. Smirking, I walked toward the door, opening it before he could stop me.

Pacing back and forth, was my Bella. She shifted her eyes up to me, relief evident, before looking over my shoulder at her brother, rage sweeping over her. Stepping into her room, Bella put her hand on my arm, shoving me into the hallway. Without as much as a word, she shut the door, leaving her alone with Carlisle and me with Esme.

"Wow, I'd hate to be him right about now," grimaced Esme when we heard Bella's muffled voice coming through the door. I couldn't make out everything she said, but managed to make out a few words like "You're a son of a bitch" and "I'll fucking cut you for being such an asswipe." The basic threats she made toward him.

Turning to my sister, I laughed, "Let me grab a shirt from my room, and we can go get some breakfast. I have a feeling they'll be awhile."

"Okay," she giggled.

Esme and I headed down the hallway to my room. Reaching into my pocket for my key, I realized that I left it in Bella's room. With a heavy sigh, I knocked on the door, hearing Liam grumbling on the other side. A moment later he pulled open the door, standing in front of us in all his naked glory.

"Oh, fuck!" gasped Esme, turning away from him. Liam looked from me to her, his eyes flying open when he realized he was standing before us bare-assed.

"Motherfucking shit," he grumbled, rummaging around for some clothes.

Gritting my teeth together, I stepped into my room, shutting the door quickly. Liam snatched a pair of shorts out of his dresser, covering himself up. Grabbing one of my shirts, I shook my head, slipping it on. I turned to leave and found Liam leaning against the door, hands folded in front of him. I groaned inwardly at the start of the day.

"Move," I ordered, placing my hands on my hips.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," he replied, putting his hands up in front of him.

"Dude, my sister is waiting for me outside, so now is really not a good time," I snapped. "Now, fucking move."

"I just wanted to apologize," he mumbled, scooting away from the door. "We never meant to hurt you or Bella."

Walking to the door, I shook my head. "You're sorry, huh?" I snorted. "Too fucking bad you didn't think about that before you dragged up all our shit." Opening the door, I looked back at him. "Bella spent the better part of the last year trying to deal with everything her parents put her through, and everything we went through on the island. To keep on dragging that shit up, forcing her to recount it all to you just so you'd give her a minute to deal with adjusting to school, is fucking cruel. I hope you got what you wanted from her, and from me, because it will be the last you ever get."

Stepping into the hall, I shut the door, ignoring the frown that sat on my sister's face. She shouldn't have had to hear how hard it had been for both us, but she did. Knowing Esme the way I did, I knew she wouldn't push me to explain, not right now, anyway. Patting me on the shoulder, she followed me over to the elevator.

Barely eight in the morning, the campus was buzzing, the sun high in the sky, blaring down on us. Walking into the dining hall, we stopped at the cashier so Esme could pay for her meal, while I swiped my food card. Taking our time to peruse the selection, I tried to discourage Esme from getting some eggs, but she scoffed, filling her plate despite my warnings. She added some toast and bacon, while I grabbed a bowl of cereal, ignoring her sarcastic comment about Lucky Charms being for kids. Maybe it was, but it was fucking delicious, too. Once she had her coffee, and I had some orange juice, we headed upstairs to find a table.

Benjamin and Tia were sitting at the same table we usually did, but since Esme was with me I opted for us to sit at one in the farthest corner. I knew they'd understand, they'd been the only two people who didn't expect more than we could give them. Taking a sip of her coffee, Esme scooped up some eggs, taking her first bite.

"Oh, shit," she muttered, swallowing quickly. "These eggs taste like crap."

"Told you not to get them," I smirked, having learned that lesson early on.

"Whatever," she grumbled, picking up her coffee, taking a small sip. "So."

"Yeah, so." I nodded, focusing on my breakfast.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair, placing her hands in her lap. "You're tan."

"What?" I chuckled, looking up at her.

"You're tan," she repeated, gesturing to my arms. They were darker, especially compared to Esme's pasty arms.

"Well, the sun shines a lot here," I snickered, picking up my juice. "It's too hot, though, and really humid all the time."

"Yeah, seems like it," she commented, turning to look out the large glass walls. "Kind of annoying, I bet."

"You get used to it," I lied for the second time this morning.

Shifting back to me, she raised an eyebrow. "If you say so," she scoffed.

I didn't reply, choosing to finish my breakfast instead. Huffing under her breath, Esme reached over, pulling my bowl out from in front of me. "Give that back, thief," I muttered, reaching for it.

"Not until you talk to me," she replied. I rolled my eyes, falling back in my seat. "Edward, don't be a little shit."

"I'm not," I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. "What do you want to talk about?"

"About everything," she said, smiling. "How are your classes going?"

"Great, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders. "Biology's been kind of hard, but Bella helps me."

"That's good," she murmured. "And everything else? How's it all going?"

"Very subtle, Es." I rolled my eyes, finishing my juice.

"Well, excuse me, but you aren't exactly talking to me, now are you?" she groused. I felt guilty, knowing she only worried about me. "I don't mean to be a nag," she muttered.

"You're not," I sighed, placing my empty glass back on the table. "It's been rough."

"Not shit," she quipped. "Care to explain?"

Bringing my hand up to my hair, I shifted my eyes over to Benjamin and Tia, who were now sitting with Liam, Maggie, Missy, and the rest of our team. "They want more than we can give them," I began. "Bella had a rough start, you know? Instead of just...letting her be, they pushed her until she-"

"Edward, I'm not here asking about Bella," Esme interrupted me. I snapped my eyes back to her. "Carlisle's here for her, but I'm here for you. How are you doing?"

"I, um," I shook my head, "I don't know. Sometimes, I think I might start liking it here, but then other times it feels like, I don't know, everyone's waiting for us to fail. Doesn't make much sense, I guess."

"Like me?" she asked, quietly.

I didn't want to hurt her feeling, but I knew I couldn't lie to her, either. "Yes," I admitted. She frowned. "Only because I don't want to let you down, Es."

"You'd never let me down, Edward." She smiled. "I didn't like you coming all the way here for school, but that's because I was selfish. I wanted my little brother with me, just like you've always been."

"It's not selfish," I disagreed. "Mom's been trying to convince us to transfer back east."

Esme laughed. "Yeah, she told me and Carlisle that there are plenty of administration jobs in DC, and plenty of kids who need someone to teach them how to fight."

"Bet he loved that," I chortled.

Smiling, she winked. "Loved it, but we did consider it."

"What?" I blurted out.

Leaning forward, she explained, "We miss Mom and Dad. You and Bella are down here. I guess, with all the changes and everything that we wanted to explore all our options."

"We?" I griped. "You talk like you two are married or something."

Adverting her eyes from mine, she didn't deny anything. Leaning across the table, I yanked her hand up, finding a sparkling, diamond ring resting on her left hand.


	8. Chapter 8

"Edward," Esme started, but stopped speaking when I looked past her, narrowing my eyes.

Bella and Carlisle had just came up, carrying their own trays of food. Looking up at me, Carlisle's eyes shifted from me to Esme to her hand, then back to me. Grinding my teeth, I dropped my sister's hand, crossing the room and grabbing his shirt. Pulling his tray out of his hands, I set it on the table.

"EDWARD!" yelled Bella when I pinned Carlisle against the wall.

"You fucking hypocrite," I spat. "You give me shit over being with Bella, knowing that I'd willing give my life for her, and you fucking proposed to my sister without having the decency to at least talk to me about it first."

"Edward, stop it," growled Esme, pulling on my shoulder.

Removing one hand from Carlisle's chest, I turned my body so that I could face them both. Tugging Esme's hand closer to me, I was vaguely aware that everyone was staring at me. Lifting her hand up in front of my face, I inspected her ring, not that I knew shit about diamonds, but whatever. It seemed to be a good one; decent size, oval in shape, resting in a white gold band with a half dozen smaller stones around it.

"Did he make it special?" I asked, shifting my eyes over to Esme. Her eyes were wide open, cheeks tainted red. "Esme, did the asshole make it special?"

"Yes," she gasped. "He made it incredible, Edward."

Turning back to Carlisle, I dropped Esme's hand. "Did you talk to my dad first?" I lifted an eyebrow.

"Yes," he replied. "Ed gave me his blessing, but suggested I might talk to you about it first. I can see now that I was wrong not to take his advice."

"No shit," I grumbled, releasing him, but stepping up and getting in his face. "I'm only telling you this once. Take care of my sister, or I will kick your ass. Understand?"

"Understood," muttered Carlisle, looking over my shoulder at Esme. "I'm so in love with her, Edward. I'd never hurt her."

"Yeah, I hope not," I scoffed, walking away from him. "But then again, I've told you at least a dozen times that I love Bella, yet you keep expecting me to hurt her. I guess this trust thing is only one-sided, isn't it?" Scowling, he nodded, but didn't verbally admit anything. Turning, I looked back at Bella, who glared at me. "What?"

"Overreact much, Edward," she grumbled, shifting her eyes around the room, making sure I knew everyone was staring at us.

"Maybe," I muttered, wrapping my arms around her. "But just like he feels the need to constantly remind me that I'm never going to be good enough for you, it's my job to make sure he knows that I will beat him within an inch of his life if he dares to hurt her."

Bella rolled her eyes, but the smile that slipped over her lips gave away any pretense that she was upset with me, or them. Kissing her deeply, I grabbed her tray and carried it over to the table Esme and I had just been sitting at, pulling her into the seat next to mine. Esme brought her hand up to Carlisle's cheek, whispering to him. Losing my appetite, I pushed my half eaten cereal away. Slowly the chatter around us picked back up, the showdown between me and him forgotten. Maybe I overreacted, but seeing as the man felt the need to threaten me at every turn, I felt justified to return the favor.

Taking my sister's hand in his, Carlisle picked up his tray and they joined us, going as far as pulling her seat out for her. If I hadn't been queasy before, I definitely was now. Rolling my eyes, I picked up my empty juice glass, bringing it to my lips before realizing I was sucking on air. Putting it back on the table, I placed my arm on the back of Bella's chair while she ate, earning me a nice little glare from him. I smirked.

"Are you two gonna keep up with this macho-male bullshit?" snickered Bella, licking the yogurt off the back of her spoon. "Because it's really getting old."

"No shit," snorted Esme, hooking her arm in with Carlisle's.

"He started it," I muttered, glaring at him.

"Did not," he scoffed. Bella, Esme, and I all lifted an eyebrow at him. "I didn't!"

"You so did," insisted Bella, smiling. "But that's okay, because I know after our little talk, you won't be pulling anymore of that big brother bullshit, now will you?"

"No," sulked Carlisle, stabbing a piece of his eggs and popping it into his mouth. His face contorted into his disgust before he grabbed his napkin and spit them out. "Those are worst fucking eggs I've ever tasted."

"I told you not to get them," smirked Bella, scooping out the last spoonful of her yogurt.

She started to bring it up to her mouth, but froze when she looked over Carlisle's shoulder. I followed her gaze, noticing the rest of our team looking over at us, whispering furiously. Placing her spoon back onto her tray, she tore her eyes away, darkness filling them. Tightening my arm around her shoulder, I brought her closer to me, kissing her cheek just below her ear.

"You're okay," I whispered, keeping my voice low enough just for her to hear me. "You're perfect."

"I'm not," she argued, leaning into me.

"You're perfect for me," I assured her.

Blushing, she turned and pressed her lips against mine. At least until Carlisle cleared his throat, while sipping on his coffee. Turning she glared at him, but he waved her off, looking over his shoulder at the rest of our team. "Are they who I think they are?"

"Depends on who you think they are," she quipped, tossing her napkin on the table and standing up. Raising her voice so they could hear her, she continued, "If you think they are a bunch of motherfucking babies, who think they have the right to dig into a person's past in order to make themselves feel better, then yes, that's the rest of our so-called team." Shifting her eyes over to them, she added, "But it doesn't feel like we're much of team, seeing as they don't understand that as a team, we have to be able to trust each other. We can't trust them."

Picking up her tray, Bella started toward the stairs, so I followed. We were almost there when a voice called out behind us. "If we're supposed to trust you, then why don't you trust us?"

She paused, looking back at Heidi. "The last time I trusted people, outside of the three standing here with me, I nearly went crazy," she explained. "Digging into my past just to satisfy your curiosity is not a way to get me to trust you, any of you."

"And hiding behind your past is away to get us to trust your leadership?" she countered.

"I never asked to be your leader," Bella replied.

"Leaders don't get asked, they're made," Heidi retorted, while everyone looked between them. "Maybe you should be asking yourself what makes you and Edward good leaders."

"All we want is to fight," muttered Bella.

"Funny, cause it looks like you're giving up," she jibed, picking up her tray and walking past us.

Slowly, the rest of our team filed past us without making eye contact. All of them except Benjamin and Maggie. They both smiled, tilting their heads in silent acknowledgment. Sliding my arm around her waist, while balancing my tray on one arm, I lead her down after them, letting Heidi's words play though my mind. Everyone was pushing us to lead, but not a one of them wanted to step up to the plate and do their part, either. It's easy for them to judge us, expecting us to lead them, but when it comes time for them to push themselves harder, would they really be willing to do what's needed?

Placing our trays on the conveyer belt, Bella and I led Carlisle and Esme outside, groaning when the warm air hit us. "Is it always so fucking hot here?" groused Carlisle, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes.

"Yep," I muttered.

"You get used to it," added Bella, but we all knew we wouldn't.

We spent the morning showing Esme and Carlisle around campus, purposely bypassing the gym. We both knew Carlisle was itching to see it, get a first hand view of all of it. Or course, Esme enjoyed the science building, being the education freak that she was. It was amusing to watch her eyes light up when we peeked into one of the smaller chemistry labs.

Instead of eating in the dining hall for lunch, Carlisle insisted on treating us to lunch in town, which we weren't about to turn down. Eating with him would be much more endurable than sitting in the dining hall with the rest of the team glaring at us. We ended up a eating at a small pizza joint, stuffed into a booth in the back corner, them on one side, and us on the other.

We ordered a large pizza with everything, and three waters. Our waitress had just left when Phil and Missy came in. She looked right over us, shifting her eyes from me and Bella, over to Carlisle, a wicked grin spreading over her face. With a gleam in her eye, she weaved her way through the restaurant, placing her hands on the table.

"Hey." She smirked. Biting back the laughter, I watched his eyes fly open when he remembered just who Missy was. "Did you miss me? Couldn't stay away, could you? I have that effect on a lot of men, but, damn it, your girlfriend is sitting right there." She gestured to Esme, who was trying not to laugh at Carlisle's expression. "Have some respect!"

"What the fuck!" bellowed Carlisle, shooting a glance to Esme, who just barely had time to replace her amused look with one of irritation. "Esme, baby, you know this is bullshit, right?"

"Do I?" seethed Esme, grabbing her fork off the table. Carlisle gulped, scooting out of the booth like he was afraid my sister would stab him in the heart with it. Esme shifted her gaze over to Missy, who stood tapping her foot. "Figures."

Bella turned and pressed her face against my shoulder, trying hard not to burst out laughing from the exasperated look on Carlisle's face. The man made it too easy to fuck with his mind, though. Before anyone could say anything, Phil came up behind Missy, smacking her on the back of the head. "Stop torturing them, you brat."

"I can't help it," whined Missy, punching him in the arm, causing Phil to wince. "He yelled at me!"

Phil cocked an eyebrow, looking at Carlisle. "Is that true?"

"NO!" yelled Carlisle, clamping his lips together when everyone turned and looked at him. Bella lost it, and started laughing hysterically, which set me, Esme, and Missy off. Carlisle huffed. "I didn't yell at her."

"Okay, so maybe he didn't exactly yell, but he tried to pull the big brother card on my, Phil. You know how well that shit doesn't work with me." Missy smirked, folding her arms in front of her.

"I apologize in advance for anything my sister spouts off," sighed Phil, shaking his head. "Our mom dropped her on her head when she was a baby."

"Little sister?" griped Carlisle. Nodding, Phil sighed. "Yeah, trying having two of them."

"No thanks, one's enough," he quipped. Bella glared at Carlisle.

"Why don't y'all join us?" offered Esme, before Bella or I could stop her. "We'll move to a bigger table."

"Um," Phil started, shifting his eyes down to me and Bella, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Nonsense," scoffed Esme, sliding out of the booth.

Without another word, she strolled over to a larger table, settling into one of the chairs. Carlisle followed, but Missy and Phil hesitated, glancing down at us once again. With a heavy sigh, I slid out of the booth, holding my hand out for her. Closing her eyes for a moment, she placed her hand in mine, allowing me to pull her out of the booth. Slipping my arm around her waist, we followed them over to the table, taking the two seats at the end.

"Well, this is nice." Esme smiled, looking around at all of us. Meeting our eyes, her smile dropped. "Or not."

Carlisle looked between us and them, seeing the tension bubbling over. "Am I missing something?"

"I'm afraid I'm responsible for creating a large mess for Bella and Edward," replied Phil, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hoped that with them here, leading our team, that we'd managed to win a championship this year and keep our program afloat, but I can see now that I was wrong."

"No, you weren't," snorted Missy. "It kills me to admit that, by the way." She looked over at me and Bella. "Like it or not, you both are natural leaders, and we're gonna follow you."

"We don't want you to," muttered Bella, placing a shaky hand on my thigh. I tightened my arm around her. "All we want is to blend in."

"Um, newsflash," she quipped. "You two attract attention like moths to a flame, or is there another reason you have blue streaks through your hair, and you curse worse than me, which I'm planning to surpass you soon just so you know."

"I don't do this," Bella pulled on a strand of her hair, "for the attention."

"If you say so." Missy rolled her eyes.

"What do you know," groused Bella, looking away from everyone.

"I know that you're acting like a little bitch, who refuses to let the past go, and just deal already," seethed Missy.

"You don't know what the fuck you are spouting off about," I hissed, slamming my hand on the table. She jumped, staring at me with wide eyes. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We were prepared to let it go, as you so nicely put, but how can we do that when you're bringing it up all the time?"

"I didn't bring anything up," she defended herself, while Carlisle, Esme, and Phil listened in. "I told them to drop it, to mind their own fucking business, but all they would say was that they needed to know. It sucks and unfair, I get it, but hiding behind the past will only cause you more pain."

"What do you know about pain?" snipped Bella, squeezing my thigh.

Shoving her chair away from the table, Missy stood up and lifted her shirt, revealing the word whore branded in her skin. "I was fifteen, he was older. I didn't listen to him when he told me I wasn't allowed to go with Phil to one of his tournaments. He said I only went to ogle the boys in their tight ass shorts," she explained. "When he found out that I went anyway, he hit me in my jaw, breaking it in two places, and knocking me out."

She sat back down in her seat. Phil slipped his arm around her shoulders, a frown plastered on his face. "I woke up tied to a tree behind his house. He had a fire burning, even though it was the middle of July. Picking up the first branding iron, he came over to me, grabbing my face so I was forced to look at him, and pressed the glowing iron to my skin." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath "There aren't adjectives descriptive enough to describe the pain."

"But you're a survivor," whispered Phil, leaning his forehead on the top of hers. "You've proved that time and again."

She grabbed a napkin off the table, wiping the tears off her face. "Eventually, I passed out from the pain. The doctor said my body had gone into shock. I don't know if that's true or not. When I came to again, I was in the hospital. My father wouldn't look at me, my mother spent every minutes crying about how that bastard had hurt her baby girl." Looking over at Bella, she frowned. "See, youe parents nearly gave their lives for you, so you could live while mine couldn't stand to look at me for months afterward."

"My brothers and I found him the next day and beat him until he begged us for mercy," gritted Phil. "Then, we beat him some more, and left him for dead. Last we heard, he left town and never came back."

Bella looked away, unable to stop the tear from falling down her face. "I'm sorry you went through that, I truly am."

"But," snarked Missy, causing Bella to look over at her. "There is a but, right?"

"No," she whimpered. "I'm trying to move on. I don't adjust well to change, and sometimes, I need some time to let things sink in before I react to them. It's one of the reasons why I train the way I do, it's the only control I have over my life."

"I get that, Bella." Missy smiled, reaching across the table and taking her hand. "But you're not alone here."

"I know, I have Edward," replied Bella, pulling her hand away. "But nobody else understands, and when we had to sit there and go through all of that again..." She trailed off, letting her words hang in the air. "We would never have asked you to tell us your story."

"You didn't," Missy assured her. "I chose to tell you, because you need to know that you're not alone, and I don't mean that you just have Edward. Phil and I are both here for you, too."

"As long as we lead your team, right?" she jibed.

"No." Bella and I shifted our eyes over to Phil. "This has nothing to do with boxing. I should have been more honest with you both when offering your rides here, but I can't change that now," he paused, shaking his head, "if I learned anything after what Missy went through, it was that family is more important than anything. Our brothers and I have tried to make sure that she knows we're right here, just a phone call away, and the same goes for you two, as well." He gestured over to Carlisle and Esme, who'd been listening quietly. "Like they just proved."

"We want to believe you, but..." Once again, Bella trailed off, tearing her eyes off of him.

"But we need time," I finished for her.

"Time we can give." Missy smiled as our waitress brought over our pizza, and their pizza, a pepperoni and sausage mix.

Everyone pulled a slice onto their plates, chattering about bullshit while we ate. Bella nibbled on her slice, and I knew she was thinking about everything Missy had just shared with us. Keeping my arm around her shoulders, I tried to encourage her to eat one more bit, while aware of Carlisle watching her, too. Like his constant eye was going to help, but I didn't say anything. Two confrontations in one day was enough.

Tossing a couple of twenties onto the table, Carlisle stood up, stretching. "Phil, would you mind if I sat in at practice this afternoon?"

Laughing, Phil shook his head. "I'd be insulted if you didn't want to."

Bella placed her napkin on the table and groaned. "This is gonna be a long-ass afternoon."


	9. Chapter 9

The tension rolled off Bella as we made our way back to campus, heading over to the gym for our afternoon workout. While Missy's story weighed heavily over the both of us, Carlisle's presence at our practice this afternoon was causing both of us to worry. Not because we weren't prepared for him to push us, but the rest of our team had no clue what he would be putting them through. A wry smile slipped over my lips. They'd soon find out.

By the time they started trickling into the gym, Bella, Missy, and I had already stretched and were running drills on the speed bags, while Carlisle and Phil discussed the plan for practice. Stopping just outside of the locker rooms, each of them appraised him, before heading in to change. Bella turned back to the bags with a smirk.

"Let the games begin," she muttered, hitting the bag harder.

We laughed, following Bella over to where Carlisle and Phil stood. After a few minutes, the rest of our team came stumbling out of the locker rooms, anticipation rolling off of each of them in waves. Shifting their eyes between us, Carlisle and Phil smirked. Clearly, they were going to enjoy this, too.

"You've got five minutes to stretch," snarked Phil. "I suggest you prepare yourself, playtime is over."

A quiet murmur echoed throughout the room, but not a one of them moved. "NOW!" he roared.

Scrambling to the mats, they plopped down and began stretching. Folding his arms in front of him, Carlisle began walking around everyone, appraising each them. Stopping behind Embry, he squatted next to him, placing hand on his back and pushing him down. "Ahh," groused Embry.

"You're going to end up hurting yourself by not stretching properly," stated Carlisle. Grabbing his hand, he yanked on his arm, wrapping Embry's fingers around his shoe. "Can you feel it? The pull in your thigh?"

"Yes," he gritted.

Standing up, he smirked. "Good, means it's working."

Embry glared at him, but didn't reply. Which was smart, considering Carlisle would take it out on his ass during practice. I'd learned that lesson the hard way.

Four minutes and twenty seconds later, Phil blew his whistle and dividing us into two groups; Riley, Bree, Embry, Missy, Tia, and Demetri with him, while me, Bella, Maggie, Liam, Benjamin, and Heidi were with Carlisle. Based on the scowls on everyone's faces, with the exception of Benjamin, none of them were thrilled with being with me, Bella, or Carlisle.

While Phil led his group to the speed bags, ignoring Missy's whining about wanting to be in our group, we followed Carlisle outside, where he leaned against the dark brick wall. "To be a good fighter, you have to know the basic moves; how to throw a good uppercut, a decent jab, and strong roundhouse," he began. Pushing off the wall, a smirk spread across his face. "I don't want you to be good fighters." He looked between all of us. "I want you to be great fighters."

Shifting his eyes between me and Bella to the others, he continued, "If you don't know how to block an attack, you're going to find yourselves on your ass, begging for mercy. You won't find it inside the ring, so you shouldn't expect to find it outside of the ring, either." Turning, he placed his hand against the wall. "You've got to be in the best shape of your lives, and I'm not talking about how big your biceps are. No, I mean, you have to be prepared to go three rounds of grueling, hardcore boxing, only to climb between the ropes and go three more rounds."

Carlisle turned back to us, a glimmer dancing in his eyes. "Today, we're going to work on a bit of stamina training." A groan resonated around us. I almost laughed out loud. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're sitting the wall."

Whining, everyone moved to the wall, leaning their backs against it. I took the space next to Bella, mentally preparing myself for the task at hand. Nodding his head, Carlisle gave us the go ahead to begin. Taking a deep breath, we slid down the wall, bending our legs in front of us, keeping our feet shoulder width apart. It didn't take long for the others to start whimpering. They had to be feeling the burn slowly building in their calves, easing it's way up into their thighs. After a few minutes, they were shaking, their muscles screaming in protest. Mine were, too, but I'd sat the wall enough to know that I could last longer than three minutes.

"Jesus fuck!" spat Liam, falling forward onto his hands and knees.

Less than ten seconds later, Benjamin fell from the wall, followed closely by Maggie and Heidi, both crying. Carlisle shook his head, walking around them to stand in front of me and Bella. Crossing his arms in front of him, he waited for one of us to cave. Gritting my teeth together, I struggled to stay on the wall as three minutes turned into four, then to five. Petty maybe, but I wanted to kick Bella's ass today.

"Give it up, Masen," growled Bella, two minutes later. "You're never going to outlast me, baby."

"Bullshit, Cullen," I spat, feeling my back slide down the wall. Planting my feet firmly against the ground, I tried to move up, but my legs shook. I was losing. "You should quit now," I added. A bead of sweat slid into my eye. I blinked several times, trying to stifle the burn. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"Oh...poor Eddie's...afraid of...losing to...a girl," she stammered, each word strained. Carlisle snickered under his breath.

_Asshole._

Eight minutes down.

"I've got all day, honey," I hissed, breathing heavily. "All fucking day."

Carlisle outright laughed.

_Smug bastard._

Nine minutes...ten...eleven...twelve...

"Oh, fucking Christ," wailed Bella, falling to the ground. Unable to hold myself up, I allowed my legs to slide out in front of me, ass hitting the ground hard. "You bastard."

"Don't be pissed cause I won this round, baby," I somehow managed to grunt out. My legs felt like they were on fire. The longest I'd ever been able to sit the wall had been nine minutes.

"Whatever," groaned Bella, leaning her forehead on the ground. "Asshole."

I laughed, even though it hurt like hell. Next time she kicked my ass at something, she'd make sure to rub it in. It's just the way we worked.

"Again," ordered Carlisle, turning from us.

"Fucker," muttered Bella, struggling to get to her feet.

We ended up sitting the wall again three more times. Bella and I were the last two standing each time. She kicked my ass in the next two rounds, but I managed to hold out long enough to take the last round. It was enough for today. While we pushed to dig deeper into ourselves and overcome the urge to quit, the others gave up easily, whining about how hard it was. Of course, it was hard. Training should never be easy.

Our group headed inside to work with Phil, while his group came out to Carlisle. Watching everyone stumble into the gym wearily, I could tell they were nervous about what they'd be expected to endure. They should be. In order to be the best fighters they could be, they'd have to do more than scratch the surface, they'd have to find that little something extra inside of them and push through the pain.

We found Phil standing inside the rings, leaning against the ropes. Looking between the six of us, I noticed the wicked look in his eyes. He was enjoying whatever he was planning. Based on the growing smirk on his face, he was enjoying this just as much, if not more, than Carlisle seemed to.

"Y'all look like shit," he snickered. A variation of groans, mutters, and a couple of curses were uttered in his direction. "It's not easy, is it?" His question hung in the air. "Finding the strength to keep pushing when your body is telling you that it's had enough." Running his hands along the ropes, he shook his head. "You can't wait until you're standing here in the middle of the biggest fight of your career to find out if you have what it takes or not."

Phil gestured around the gym, smiling. "You find it here. And you find it out there," he added, pointing to the doors leading outside. "If you're not going to give one hundred and ten percent, then you should leave now." Looking between the six of us, he paused like he was waiting for someone to take his offer. Nobody did. "Good. Now, that we've got that shit out of the way, we can get started."

Climbing out of the ring, he lead us around to the speed bags, gesturing for us to wrap our hands. While everyone worked to get their hands and wrists wrapped and taped, Phil ran his hands over the speed bag. In an odd way, he almost seemed to be getting to know the bag, communicating with it. Catching my eye, he quickly ducked away, the tips of his ears turning red. I wouldn't mention it. His passion for the sport was evident.

"Spread out and start with two minutes," he muttered, clearing his throat. "We're not working on power, but on speed. Keep your hands up in front, tuck your elbows in, and use short jabs."

Finding our spots in front of our speed bags, we waited until Phil blew his whistle to start. Standing behind Bella, I saw her pull her elbows in close to her ribs, tightening her small, but ample frame, and begin her work-out. Her arms moved effortlessly, almost as if they were guiding her instead of her controlling them. She was graceful and beautiful. God, did I want to fuck her right now.

Clearing his throat, Phil pulled my attention away from Bella. Stopping long enough to look over her shoulder and smirk, she went on with her workout. Taking a deep breath, I returned my focus back to my speed bag, Nestling my elbows close to my body, I threw out a short right jab, followed by a left. Back and forth I alternated my fists, bouncing on my feet. My heart raced through my chest, setting my pace for me.

Closing my eyes, I could see myself standing in the middle of a ring. Hundreds of people gathered around, yelling and begging for me to push harder, to dig deeper. But only one voice carried over all of theirs. Standing in my corner, Bella screamed, "Finish him, Masen."

Tightening my arms back in, I turned to face my opponent, unable to make out his face. Whoever he was, he threw right roundhouse at me. I blocked it, shifting my body away, drawing him into playing my game. One more step and he'd be mine.

Laughing sardonically, I moved to my left. He followed. They always followed. Attacking with left jab, right uppercut combo, he tried to push me into the ropes, but I ducked, spinning around him. Pinning him against the sides, I took control. Left then a right, blocked his feeble attempt to counter with a weakened left. Rearing back, I aimed for his gut, ready to finish him off. Before I could follow through, someone grabbed my arm. Snapping my head around, I found Bella standing next to me.

Stepping away from her, I took a deep breath and looked around. I wasn't standing in the middle of that ring any longer. Heidi, Maggie, Liam, and Benjamin were staring at me with annoyed looks, while Phil seemed amused.

"Where were you?" Bella laughed.

"Nowhere," I muttered, averting my eyes from hers. "Just focusing on work."

Smirking playfully, Bella turned back to Phil. She clearly enjoyed watching me make a fool out of myself. Following everyone over to the mats, we took a seat and waited for the other group to come in from their session with Carlisle. Sitting in the corner of the gym, Esme flipped through a magazine, bouncing her foot to the beat of whatever song she was listening to on her iPod. Every couple of minutes, she'd raise her hand up to her chest, messing with the diamond ring resting on her finger. Feeling me watching her, she lifted her eyes to mine, blushing profusely. I tried not to laugh, but, well, seeing as I'm her little brother and she's done everything in her power to make my life miserable, I didn't try very hard.

The double doors leading outside were thrown open, pulling all our attention away. Carlisle, smirking from ear to ear, came in with the others following him. Only Missy looked like she wasn't about to collapse. Glaring at him, they fell onto the mats next to us, mutters of hate and disgust oozing from between their lips. Shaking my head, I slipped my arm around Bella's waist. Why did they expect any of this to be easy? We were fighting for our survival. Maybe not literally, but wasn't our passion for boxing worth fighting for?

Pulling a metal folding chair from against the wall, Phil moved it right in front of us, sitting with his elbows resting on his knees. "I owe all of you an apology," he started, rubbing a hand against the gruffness of his jaw. "I should have been more upfront about my expectations for this season, but, if I'm honest, I hoped that it would be a mute point. Each one of you have characteristics that make you outstanding fighters. For some, it's a killer right hook, others the sheer power to bend your opponents will to your own."

Pausing, he looked each of us in the eye. "I came to each and every one of you, knowing that together, we'd be unstoppable. It's up to each of you to decide what you want from our team. Do you want to sit on the sidelines, letting them rip our program from us, or do you want to fight tooth and nail for it? I'm not ready to give up." Standing up, he kicked his chair backward, his gaze falling on me and Bella. "Life is too short to let cowards stop us from being the best. Have no doubt about it, we are the best."

Turning toward his office, he hollered over his shoulder, "We have practice again tomorrow, and if you thought today was a bitch, you ain't seen nothing."

Carlisle burst out laughing, falling into the chair next to Esme. Muttering about them being a couple of bitches, everyone stood up and headed toward the locker rooms. Following along after them, I grabbed my towel out of locker, stripping off my workout clothes, and heading into the shower. My body ached from the combination of Phil and Carlisle's workouts, but it was a good ache. The kind you get when you know you've pushed yourself a little harder. Flicking on the water, I left it on the warmer side, placing my hand on the wall and letting it wash over me.

"Is that how he trained you back home?" Benjamin asked, turning on the shower next to mine.

"That was nothing," I scoffed. "He's a bastard, but he knows what he's talking about. He expects nothing short of the best, and if you aren't willing to give him your all, really dig deep and find that extra little bit more, then you aren't worth his time."

Hearing someone scoff behind me, I looked over my shoulder. Muttering under his breath, Liam stalked out of the showers. "Forget about him, man." Benjamin shut off his water, wrapping his towel around his waist. "He's not worth it."

"Yeah, but you don't have to live with him for the next however many months," I mumbled, shaking my head.

"Neither do you." He shrugged his shoulders. Cocking on eyebrow at him, I waited for him to continue. "I don't have a roommate. Apparent,y, Brent missed his mommy too much. I bet they'd let you move in with me."

"I don't know," I replied, warily.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but at least it's an option."

Before I could respond, he turned, leaving alone. Shutting off my shower, I wrapped my towel loosely around my waist, and headed back out to my locker. By the time I got out there Benjamin, and Liam were the only two still in the locker rooms. Sitting in awkward silence, Liam kept his eyes trained on his shoe laces. I wondered if it was really worth putting up with all of his bullshit. Standing up, he grabbed his bag from his locker, slamming the door shut, and walking out. Shaking his head, Benjamin finished dressing and followed him out. Maybe, it'd be worth the move to not feel like a freak in a room full of hypocrites.

Quickly drying off, I got dressed, grabbing my bag, and heading out of the locker room. Bella was leaning against the wall next to the door, eyes clenched shut, and her iPod blaring in her ears. With her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth, she swayed her hips to he music pouring out. Smiling, I walked over and placed my hands on her hips, drawing her against my body.

Shivering, she opened her eyes, resting her hands on my chest. My breath caught in my chest, when I found myself lost in her seduction. "Hey," she murmured, breathlessly.

"Hey," I echoed, leaning my forehead against hers. "Are you hungry?"

A wicked smile spread across her face. "Not for food," she purred, pressing her hips against mine.

My cock jumped in response. Clearing his throat, Carlisle walked past us, thumping me in the back of the neck. "Let's go get dinner, lover-boy," he snarked.

Gritting my teeth together, I turned to respond, but Bella beat me to it. "You and Esme go on ahead, Car," she snickered. "Edward and I have other plans."

"What other plans?" he growled, glaring at me.

"Oh, you know," she smirked, walking over to him, "the kinds of plans that I don't discuss with my brother, who swore to me that he would stop being an asshole and let me live my life the way I want to!"

By the time she got done with her rant, she'd backed him up against the wall, her index finger pressed firmly in the middle of his chest. Esme, covering her mouth with her hand, struggled not to burst out laughing, while Phil and Missy made no effort. Doubled over, they struggled to catch their breaths. I couldn't blame them. Carlisle was ten years older than Bella, but it was clear in this moment that she wielded all the power in their family.

Turning to me, Bella held out her hand, which I eagerly accepted. "Come on, baby," she cooed, "let's get the fuck out of here."

Laughing, I allowed her to lead me out of the gym, feeling Carlisle boring a hole in the back of my head. We'd pay for this at tomorrows practice, but for now, we wouldn't worry about him. Slipping my arm around her waist, we headed back to the dorms, settling in my room, and ordered a pizza. While we waited, I told Bella about Benjamin offer to let me move in with him.

"Are you going to?" she wondered, sliding her leg over mine. Laying on my bed, we had our legs and arms wrapped around each other.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. He lives in Matthews Hall. I don't want to be that far away from you."

"But you don't want to stay here with Liam being such a dick, either," she added.

"No, I don't," I grumbled, ducking my head into her neck. "Maybe we should just run away, start over new somewhere."

"Oh, like where," she replied with a moan. "Edward."

"I don't know," I whispered, kissing her collarbone. "Maybe Oklahoma."

"Oklahoma?" she laughed, weaving her fingers into my hair. "Why there?"

"It's one of the few places we never moved to," I explained. "We could disappear there."

"And what would we do there?" she murmured.

Looking her in the eye, I smiled. "Whatever we fucking wanted, baby. As long as we have each other, we don't need anyone else."

"And you'll never leave me, right?" Each word tumbled out of her mouth shaky and thick with fear. Moving so that I covered her body, I shook my head. "Baby, you ain't ever getting rid of me. I love you."

"I love you, too," she whimpered.


	10. Chapter 10

When I woke up the next morning, I reached out for Bella, expecting her to be snuggled up next to me. However, my hands came up empty. Opening my eyes, I leaned up on my elbows, searching around the small dorm room. She wasn't here. Throwing the blanket off, I pulled on the boxers and black sweats I'd discarded during our hasty need to connect our bodies last night. A piece of paper taped to the back of the door drew my attention. Tearing it off, I found Bella's messy handwriting.

_Went for a run with the asshole, be back in a bit. Stay naked.-B_

Barely able to stifle my laughter, I laid it on my desk and promptly climbed back in bed. Reaching over my head, I grabbed my iPod off the small built-in dresser and put the ear-buds in. Selecting my Blue October playlist, I closed my eyes, allowing myself to get lost in the music.

Bella needed this time to reconnect with Carlisle. The bond between the two of them was rivaled only by mine and Esme's. Like my sister and I, they'd both turn toward each other when things got hard. Emmett and Jasper had Rose and Alice, but until we moved to Forks, Carlisle was alone, having given up everything, while Bella struggled just to breath every morning.

I was in the middle of Blue October's Hate Me, when I felt the bed shift and someone straddle my hips. I didn't need to open my eyes to know it was Bella. The moment her skin touched mine, I knew. Like a true addict, my body craved hers, aching for her touch, needing her love.

"Baby, wake up," she purred, popping one of my ear-buds out. I groaned, wrapping my arms around her, causing her to laugh. "Come on, it's time to get up."

"I'm already up," I growled, shifting my hips, showing just how up I was.

"Oh, baby, I can tell," she whispered, peppering my jaw with kisses. "And if your sister and my brother weren't standing on the other side of the fucking door, I'd suck that delicious cock until you came in my mouth." I moaned, the mental image of her with me in between her lips was almost enough to send me over the edge.

"Bella, baby, don't tease," I whined, sliding my hands down to her ass. "I need you."

"I'll make it up to you later, I promise." Before I could argue, she captured my mouth in a searing kiss. That was not going to help me let her go. "Come on, baby, I'm fucking starving."

"Fine," I grumbled, "but I'm gonna blame you if I get blue balls."

"Aw, poor, Edward," she snickered, climbing off of me. "You can spank me later, but for now, hurry."

The idea of spanking Bella wasn't helping either, and based on the way she laughed, she knew it, too. Trying to push the thought of her bent over my knee, panties pulled down, and my hand caressing her tender, red flesh, I changed out of my sweats, choosing a pair of loose fitting shorts. Something told today was going to be a long day. Still smirking, Bella grabbed my hand, and opened the door, indeed revealing Carlisle and Esme on the other side.

"Good morning," sang Esme. I grunted. "Oh, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"Yeah, something like that." I scowled over Bella's simple words, they implied too much to our siblings, but I let it go. I had harder things on my mind right now. "Let's go eat, I'm really hungry for some sausage."

Clamping my lips together, I bit back the urge to snap at her that she could have my sausage. Somehow, I don't think Carlisle would appreciate it, not that Bella wouldn't find it funny. Laughing, Bella yanked on my arms, pulling me down the hallway with them following us.

By the time we made it to the dining hall, my not so little problem had eased up a bit. Carlisle and Esme paid for their breakfast before heading over to grab something to eat. Even though I wasn't starving, I knew today's practice would be a bitch. Deciding on a muffin, some bacon, and a banana, I grabbed a bottle of Orange juice and followed Bella upstairs. Carlisle and Esme joined us a few minutes later, neither of them being stupid enough to get the eggs again. While we ate, the rest of our team trickled up the steps, a little slower than normal.

Clearing her throat, Bella shifted her eyes away from theirs. "So, have you set a date?"

"We've been thinking about during the Christmas break," replied Esme, nearly glowing with joy.

"So soon?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. "People are bound to talk, don't you think?"

"Is that what you think," she hissed, leaning forward. "That the only reason he'd marry me is cause I'm pregnant?"

"No, I-"

"For your, information, Edward," she spat, interrupting me, "I've been lonely, too. I've been looking for someone to understand me, too. You're not the only one who had to leave people behind every time we moved. So did I, and it sucked ass. I think I deserve to be happy."

"Goddamn it, Esme, I never said you didn't," I blurted out, shocked at her little rant.

"No, you just assumed that the only reason he'd want to marry me is cause he had to," she groused, standing up and grabbing Carlisle's hand, stopping him from taking a bite of his french toast. "You're such a pain in the ass!"

Yanking on his arm, Esme jerked Carlisle out of his seat, dragging him across the room and down the stairs. Staring at her with my mouth hanging wide open, I tried to figure just what the hell happened.

"Shut your mouth, Edward," snickered Bella, placing her finger under my chin. "You just got schooled by your sis."

"I-I didn't mean anything by it," I mumbled, shaking my head.

"Yeah, well, next time just smile and nod, it'll save you a lot of trouble."

I snorted. "No shit."

By the time we headed over to the gym for practice, neither Bella nor I could get a hold of Carlisle or Esme. I wanted to apologize, even though I wasn't quite sure what I'd done wrong. Just the thought of my sister being pissed with me hurt, it'd never happened before. It made me feel uneasy.

Walking into the gym, we found Carlisle and Phil in the middle of the ring, both wearing full sparring gear. Moving around in circles, they battled against each other; Carlisle threw a powerful right that Phil managed to block. Not one to be upstaged, Phil countered with a left roundhouse, but Carlisle was too quick. In a heartbeat, he had Phil against the ropes, pummeling his torso with his gloves.

"I fucking give," garbled Phil, spitting his mouth piece out. "You've still got iron fists."

"They're not what they used to be," chuckled Carlisle, wiping his forehead off with the back of his arm.

"Oh, look, Edward, they've bonded," snarked Bella, drawing their attention to us. "Ain't it cute?"

"So cute, I think I puked in my mouth," I snickered, sliding my arm around her waist. "Come on, baby, let's leave them to their bromance."

Throwing her head back, Bella burst into hysterics. "Yeah, okay, wouldn't want to get in the middle of them."

"Shut the fuck up, you crazy little bitch," muttered Carlisle, only causing her to laugh harder. A year ago, she would have jumped his ass, taking him to the mats and threatening to cut off a nut if he'd called her crazy. Just shows how much she's grown in the past few months.

Kissing her quickly, I left Bella in front of the ladies locker room, and headed into the men's. Pausing in the doorway, I found Liam laying across one of the benches, pulling his left knee up to his chest in an effort to work out the soreness. He looked over at me, dropping his leg and sitting up. Adverting my eyes from him, I walked over to my locker and pulled it open, placing my bag into the bottom. I could feel him watching me.

"I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been ran over by a truck," Liam said.

"I'm not too sore," I muttered, slipping my shirt over my head. "But then, I've been training with him for months. When I first started, I thought I'd die from the pain."

"Must of been hell," he grumbled.

"Not really." I shrugged my shoulders and faced him. "Carlisle took me into his gym, treated me like a member of the family. Is he a hard-ass? Yes. Does he annoy the fuck out of me? Constantly. But he loves my sister, more than I want to admit. He's a good man, one who cares enough about his family to put his dreams on hold and focus on doing everything he can to keep them safe. I don't mind working my ass off for him. He took a chance on me, the least I can do is give him everything I've got."

"Still think he's a prick," Liam mumbled.

"Yeah, but you would," I snarked. "You're quick to judge everyone, aren't you?"

"That's not fair," he claimed, shaking his head.

"Fair?" I scoffed. "How is anything fair? Was it fair that Bella went through hell because of what her parents did? Or that her brothers had to put everything on hold for her?"

"No, but-"

"Or maybe it was fair that I'd never been able to really open up to anyone until I met her, because of the fear of losing them when we had to move again," I spat, interrupting him. Cocking an eyebrow at him, I waited for him to say something, anything, but instead, he sat there with his mouth wide open. "I don't really care what you and Maggie think of us, but Bella does. She's had a lot of people treat her like shit because instead of just letting her be her, they felt the need to tear her to piece. She's been hurt enough."

The door to the locker room opened and the rest of our team came trickling in. Without saying a word to any of them, I finished dressing and headed to start stretching. Bella was already on the mats, spread eagle with her nose touching the blue. Dropping to my knees, I crawled up behind her, resting my upper body on top of hers.

Bringing her hand up, she wove her fingers in my hair, pulling me on her even more. "Baby, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," I murmured, suckling on the side of her neck. "Thought I'd help you stretch."

"Pretty sure you stretched me plenty last night." The seduction laced in her words went straight to my cock, which normally would be a just fine, but seeing as we were fixing to work out, not so much. "Unless, you want to give everyone a show right here, right now, I suggest you back off, lover."

"Cockblocker," I muttered, moving away from her, but I knew she was right.

Laughing at my pout, Bella returned to her stretch. I started my routine, working on the muscles in my arms and back first, before moving to my legs. As the rest of the team settled around us, grunts and groans sputtered from between their gritted teeth. It was clear they weren't used to the grueling workouts that Bella and I were, not that we didn't feel the effects from yesterday's practice. We did, but we'd also learned that the harder we pushed our bodies in practice, the better fighters we became, both in and out of the ring.

"How's everyone feeling?" A seemingly innocent question from Carlisle had everyone cursing him under their breaths. Sitting in one of the metal folding chairs, he leaned back with his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands locked behind his head. The sleeves on his t-shirt cut into his biceps; the man was fit, I couldn't argue that little fact. "I'm gonna assume from the whining that you're hurting," he quipped, laughing.

"No shit," scoffed Maggie. Shifting their eyes to her, everyone took a deep breath, shocked that she'd have the balls to speak to him in such a way. Not bothered by the gaping mouths, she added, "But of course, you get off in our pain, don't you?"

"Is that what you think?" Carlisle asked, the corners of his mouth twitching. The son of a bitch was enjoying this.

"Fuck yeah, I do!" Maggie exclaimed. "I mean, look at you!"

"What?" He shrugged. "I'm not the one who's pussyfooting around, wasting the talent I have."

"I'm not either. Just because I don't like to push my body to the point that I can't even move, doesn't mean I am wasting anything."

"That is such bullshit," Bella muttered, drawing everyone's attention to her. "You sit here, all of you, acting like you've got nothing left to prove. You have everything to prove. When the season starts, do you think every person we fight is going to be gasping for air by the second round?"

Silence.

Bella stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "Amateur hour is over, and it's time to decide if you want to play with the adults, or go back to the kiddie table." Meeting each of their eyes, she gestured to the ring. "I'm going to work. Who's willing to go with me?"

"Me," I stated, knowing it was a forgone conclusion in all of their minds. I went where Bella went, that's how we worked.

Jumping to her feet, Missy laughed, throwing her arms around my shoulders. "Needless to say I'm in even if I do have to deal with Phil every fucking day."

"Kiss my ass, Missy," muttered Phil.

Waving him off, she looked around at everyone else just sitting there. "Well?"

"I'm in," announced Benjamin, wincing when he scrambled to his feet. "I didn't come all the way from New York to sit on my ass and watch the grass grow."

"Count me in, too." Standing with more grace than Benjamin did, Tia smiled. "My momma raised me to fight for what I want, and I'm not ready to see this program die. Maybe the rest of you are, but not me."

"What the hell," Embry added, crossing the imaginary line between us and them. "Beats going back to Oklahoma and telling my Gramps that I quit."

Moving over so that he stood on our side of the mats, we all turned to Demetri, Heidi, Riley, Bree, Liam, and Maggie. Shrugging his shoulders, Riley stood up and joined us, but didn't make any kind of declaration. Suppose it wasn't his thing. Following his lead, Demetri and Bree joined us, leaving the other three sitting there, looking like fools.

Rolling her eyes, Heidi sighed and stood up. "I'm gonna regret this, but I'm in."

Leaving Maggie and Liam sitting before us, she moved over and stood next to Demetri, folding her arms in front of her chest. Her defensive stance didn't go unnoticed by me or Bella, but she'd made her choice and, for now, that was enough.

Running his fingers through his hair, Liam stood up, placing his hands on his hips. Looking directly at me, he said, "You're asking us to trust you one hundred percent, yet, you don't trust us."

"We're not asking you to trust us," disagreed Bella, causing him and Maggie to look at her. "Trust is earned, we haven't earned your trust, just like you haven't earned ours. We're asking you to make a stand, decide whether or not you want to stay on the sidelines, letting things you can't change stop you from being the best fighters you can be."

"Isn't that what you've done?" Maggie countered, scrambling to her feet. "You've held onto things you couldn't change?"

"My...father," Bella gritted out, "told me once that when it comes to a good fight, if you put everything you have into it, then no matter what the scoreboard says, you're a winner." From the corner of my eye, I noticed Carlisle's smirk had faded, replaced by a frown. "I used to think that was bullshit, just something you tell someone to make them feel better when they've gotten their asses kicked, but now..." She took a breath, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"Now, I think...no, I know, he was right. See, at the end of the season, we may not be able to save our program, we have to face that the odds are stacked against us. The schools we'll be facing, they're going to have years of experience on us, but they won't have the heart, the fucking soul, that this team can have. I'm asking you to decide right now if you want to be a part of our revolution, or not?"

"Can we start over?" she asked. "Pretend the last few weeks didn't happen?"

"No," Bella admitted. "We can't hide from what we've done, or didn't do. We can only move on, trying to put the hurt and pain behind us. It's not easy, but maybe it's worth it."

"Okay," Maggie whispered. "I'm willing to give it my all, if you are."

With a stiff nod of her head, Bella said what her lips wouldn't allow her to utter. She'd do what she could to put aside her feelings for Maggie, try to move on and at least deal with everything. It wouldn't be easy, but then, nothing was ever easy for Bella. Wrapping her arms around her body, Maggie moved over to our side, leaving Liam standing there alone. Thick with anticipation and awkward tension, we waited for him to make his decision.

Closing his eyes, he sighed, running a frustrated hand through his shaggy blond hair. "Fine, I'm in. I'll do whatever it takes to keep this program going." Shifting his gaze to me and Bella, he said, "All we wanted was to understand."

"Until you've found yourself living in hell, you can't understand," Bella muttered, shifting uncomfortably next to me. "I hope you never do."

"Alright," Carlisle clapped his hands together once, "now that we've hugged and had our moment, let's get started."

Everyone around us groaned. Ignoring them, Carlisle walked over and placed his hand on the top rope, a serene smile spreading over his lips. "Stepping into this ring, you have to be physically strong, and mentally prepared. Every person you come up against is going to be watching your every move, planning their next attack. If you go left, they are going to be expecting you to follow to your right. If you slow down, they are going to pounce on you, exploiting that weak moment."

Shifting his eyes over to us, he continued, "Nobody can prepare you for what you're going to face when you get in here. Phil can give you the tools to strengthen your jabs, he can push you to get in better shape, but when it comes time to face the biggest fight of your life, you have to make the choice to dig deeper and never stop fighting."

"Everyone pair up, girls with girls, boys with boys," instructed Phil. Moving, I stood next to Benjamin, while Bella and Tia teamed together. Tossing each pair a black and white bandana, he said, "One of you, and it doesn't matter who because both of you are going to do this, cover your eyes."

Benjamin looked at me, questioning with his eyes if I knew what the hell Phil was planning. Shrugging my shoulders, I took the bandana and tied it over my eyes, rendering me sightless. Around me, I could hear everyone else muttering about who should go first, a couple of the girls, Bree or Missy, complaining about their hair getting pulling. Being in the dark was a surreal experience.

"Okay, those of you without blindfolds, get your partner a set of punching mitts and then put your gloves on." Based on the noise around me, I assumed everyone who wasn't blindfolded had started grabbing the gear.

A moment later, I felt Benjamin reach out and grab my hand, stuffing a set of mitts on my hands. "Too tight?"

"No," I replied. "They're good."

"Outside of sight, one of the biggest tools you have in the ring are your ears. Anyone know why?" Phil asked.

"By listening, you can tell how well the other person is fairing," Bella explained. "If they are struggling to get a deep breath, you finish them early."

"Also, you can listen to the moment of their feet, telling you which direction they're going to go," I added.

"Exactly. Now, what we are going to work on with this exercise is using your ears to block your opponent. Fights are won with a strong defense more than with a strong offense. When I blow my whistle, those of you who are not blind will start their attack. Be creative, make them really listen for you."

Half a second later, Phil blew his whistle. Taking a deep breath, I tried to push the background out of my head, hearing everyone begin to move. More than once I heard the sound of gloves connecting with the mitts. Pulling my elbows back, keeping them tucked in against my side, focused on Benjamin.

His foot scrapped against the mat when he took a step to the left. Throwing up my right hand, I blocked his left jab. Bringing my arm back in quickly, I turned, following the sounds of his feet. Countering with a step to the right, I blocked another of his jabs, this one from the right side. Huffing under his breath, he jumped to the left. Following him, I continued to battle against him, listening to his feet sliding against the mats.

Phil blew his whistle, so I tossed the mitts at my feet and pulled the blindfold off my eyes. Blinking several times, I tried to adjust back to the light, noticing Bella doing the same. Tia stood next to her, arms folded in front and an aggravated expression on her face. It couldn't have been easy for Tia to get the best of Bella, either. I've both been there, and done that.

"Not bad, everyone. It's important to listen to what the other person is doing at all times," Phil explained. "Switch with your partners and we'll go again."

Once everyone was ready, Phil blew his whistle again. While everyone around me started to move, I stood there, watching Benjamin moving his head from side to side. Rolling onto the balls of my feet, I stepped to the right, being careful to keep my breathing even. Taking one more step, I reached out and tapped his shoulder. Throwing his arm out wide, he tried to block me, but that only left him open for me to hit him in the gut, if we'd been in a real match of course. Countering to the left, I took three steps, waiting for him to follow. He never did. Once more, I tapped his shoulder, causing him to spin in my direction.

"Goddamn it, Edward," he spat, throwing his arm out wildly. "I'm gonna kick your ass, you stupid fucker!"

"Not if you can't find me," I taunted, standing right behind him. He spun on his heel, managing to stop my left from connecting to his shoulder. A wry smile ghosted over his lips as he followed me step by step, blocking each jab that I threw. It may have taken him a few times, but he stopped trying to see me, and started listening.

After a few more rounds, we were dismissed. Bella and I hurried through our showers and changed, knowing Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us. They were standing by the front door, him with his arm around her waist and her turned into him.

Ducking my eyes, I walked up to them. "Esme, I'm sorry," I muttered, feeling my ears turn red when Carlisle snorted.

"Don't worry about it, Edward." She waved me off. "You had a moment of stupidity, it's fine. Just remember, that how you feel about Bella is how I feel about Carlisle."

"Yeah, I'll try to remember," I mumbled, trying very hard to think about them loving each other the way Bella and I did. That shit's just nasty.

Bella joined us a few minutes later, and the four of us headed toward the dining hall for dinner. Carlisle and Esme were heading back to Forks tomorrow, something none of us were ready for. While Bella and I needed this change to spread our wings and fly, we missed our families.


	11. Chapter 11

Stretching out across my bed, my hand sought out Bella, but once again I came up empty. Sitting up, I found her in front of my laptop, knees pulled up to her chest and one of my t-shirt pulled over them. It's been a month since Carlisle and Esme headed back to Forks and life went on. Or it tried to, at least. Bella still struggled some with nightmares. Most of the time, she slept through the night peacefully; but a few times, she'd start whimpering in her sleep.

Usually, she'd calm down with my arms around her; however, there were a few times that she lashed out at me. I hid the scratch marks and bruises from her as best I could, but she'd find them. The guilt would eat away at her and it would take everything I had to get through her head that she hadn't really hurt me. She'd thrown herself into our workouts: both in a effort to help the team and to find an outlet for the fear she felt.

"Baby, what time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"Just after three," she replied, looking back at me.

"Ugh, too early," I whined, throwing the blanket back. "Come back to bed." She pushed away from the computer, letting her legs fall from inside my shirt as she stood up. Climbing back into my bed, she wrapped her arms around my torso, snuggling her face into my chest. "What were you doing up anyway?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep," she muttered, tensing around me and I knew there was more to the story. "Figured, I'd start on my paper for English Lit."

"Hmm," I hummed, rolling onto my side so I could hold her tighter. "Did you get much done?"

"A page," she said, yawning. "It's probably crap."

"Go back to sleep, baby," I whispered, brushing my lips across hers. "I've got you."

"Promise?" she asked, already drifting off to sleep.

"I promise."

When I woke up again, I reached for Bella; yet again finding my arms empty. Before I could search her out, though, the door to my room opened and she came in carrying two cups of Starbucks coffee and a bag of Dunkin Donuts. Shifting so that I leaned against the wall, I watched her. Coffee and donuts weren't a treat she'd normally indulge in. Especially when our season was about to start.

"Morning," she chirped, handing me one of the drinks.

"Morning," I replied. Bella kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, tucking her legs under the blanket. Opening the white paper bag, she pulled out a chocolate donut, holding it out to me. "My favorite."

"I know," she beamed. Dropping the bag on the floor, she started nibbling on her cherry frosted one. While we ate, I watched her, trying to get any sense of rhyme or reason to her actions. She may have been eating, but her eyes danced around the room, seeking out any sign of danger.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked.

She shifted her attention to me. "It was nothing."

"Nothing that made you go out and get us donuts?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I—I just needed some air," she muttered, dropping her gaze to her hands.

Placing my finger under her chin, I tilted her head back, pleading with her, "Baby, talk to me."

However, before she could answer me, the door to my room opened and Maggie and Liam came tumbling in. Things with them had started improving; though, I wouldn't say we were what normal people would call friends. We'd come to an unspoken agreement of sorts: they didn't ask questions when Bella had nightmares, and we tried to keep the terror down to a minimal.

For all intensive purposes, Maggie and Liam shared the girls' room, while Bella had moved in with me. Of course, we didn't tell Carlisle any of this, even though I'm sure he'd realized after his visit that Bella and I never spent a night apart. She needed me to hold her, to keep the bad guys away—at least as much as I could.

"Hey," Maggie greeted us, her eyes landing on the empty donut bag on the floor.

"Hi," Bella muttered, pulling her knees up in front of her. Knowing her the way I did, I knew she felt the need to defend herself, which meant that the nightmares had been particularly nasty.

Sighing, I slipped my arm around her knees, pulling them against me in an effort to reassure her that I was still there. "What's up?"

"Just needed to grab a book before we head off to class," Liam explained, grabbing his Chemistry book off his desk. "Hate this fucking class."

"Only because you can't charm your teacher," Maggie snickered, hooking her arm in with his. "She's immune to you."

"Pssh, whatever. All women want me," he scoffed, slipping his arm around her waist. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled. "See you guys."

"Okay," Bella whispered. I waited until they left, shutting the door behind them, before I turned back to Bella. However, she smiled. "You know they are totally a couple, don't you? Even if they haven't actually admitted that they love each other, it's as plain as day."

"Baby, don't change the subject," I grumbled, causing her to roll her eyes.

"It really was nothing," she insisted. "I don't really remember much, just a lot of flashes and some voices."

"From that day?" I asked with caution. Exhaling a sharp breath, she nodded. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I just woke up feeling antsy, so I thought I'd go get us some coffee. Then I saw a Dunkin, and thought what the hell."

"Because we normally gorge ourselves on donuts when we're in the middle of hardcore training," I teased, kissing the side of her head.

"I'd hardly call one donut each gorging ourselves," she scoffed, shifting so that she straddled my legs. My hands automatically found their way to her hips. "I could certainly go for some hardcore something, but it's not training I'm thinking about."

Crushing my lips against hers, I flipped us so that she was under me. Pushing her shirt up, I pawed at her bra, releasing her breast and pulling her nipple into my mouth. Sliding my hand down her leg, I dug my fingers into her skin, shifting it up over my hip. My cock pressed into her through the knit shorts I wore, leaving very little to Bella's imagination.

"Oh, fuck, dude, I'm sorry." Jumping off Bella, I snapped my head over and found Liam facing the door. Bella yanked her shirt down and scrambled off the bed, brushing past him in her rush to get out of the room. "Bella, wait, I didn't see anything...or very much at least."

"Shut the fuck up," I snarled, climbing off my bed and grabbing one of the shirts from the closet out. "You're only going to make it worse. What the fuck are you doing here, anyway? You just left."

"I forgot my calculator," he muttered, lifting his eyes to mine. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked or something."

"Yeah, probably," I agreed, grabbing my room key off the dresser and walking past him.

Leaving him standing there like an idiot, I went to find Bella. It wasn't really his fault—even though he should have knocked. She'd lowered her defenses and it left her feeling vulnerable. I knew she wouldn't go to her room on the off chance that Maggie was in there. The last thing she'd want would be to be forced to explain what had happened. Maggie knew by now, too, that Bella and I were together twenty-four/seven.

Taking the stairs to the lobby, I rushed through, waving Missy off when she catcalled me. Stepping outside, I looked around, trying to figure out where she'd go. There were two options: she either went for a run, or she headed over to the gym. Seeing as she rushed out without any shoes on, I'd headed toward the gym. A good workout was the only way she knew to deal with her feelings.

When I walked into the gym, I found Phil leaning against the entry way. Bella had already taped her hands and was standing in front of one of the bags, beating the shit out of it. If she'd been sparring against a real person, they'd be begging for mercy right now.

"What happened?" he asked, not bothering to look back at me.

"She got embarrassed," I said, leaving out the detail that we'd been walking in on while my lips were around her nipple. There were some things Phil didn't need to know.

He nodded, before turning toward his office. "Take care of her."

"I always do," I muttered, kicking off my shoes and heading over to where Bella worked out.

She didn't say a word as I grabbed the bag, holding it still for her. Her eyes told me everything I needed to know, anyway. Locked on the bag in front of her, they were filled with fear and embarrassment, shame and worry. Bella threw a roundhouse/ right hook combo that sent me flying back a few inches. I stifle the groan that wanted to come out when the bag slammed into me. Goddamn thing hurt like a son of a bitch.

After another half hour of pounding her fists into the bag, she screamed, " FUCKING SHIT!"

Dropping onto the mat, she struggled to catch her breath. Letting the bag go, I sat down next to her. "Baby, it's okay."

"It's not okay." She glared at me. "He saw you with my..." She shook her head, not even able to get the word out.

"Baby-"

"Don't baby me, Edward," Bella muttered.

"Bella," I said, grabbing her hand. "He didn't see anything. He told me."

"Edward, I'm not stupid," she grumbled, falling back.

I laid next to her, propping myself up on my elbow and placing my hand on her stomach. I knew this was more than about Liam walking in on us. I just had to be patient with her until she decided to tell me what was really going through her pretty little head.

Several minutes went by before she sighed, letting her head fall to the side so she was looking at me. "I'm tired of being a freak."

"What?" I chuckled, seeing the darkness fill her eyes. "You're not a freak."

"I am," she sighed. "The moment I find myself in a situation where things start spinning out of control, I take off running. It's not normal—I know this—but seeing him standing there, just caused me to freak out. Even if he was facing the door."

"Baby," I ignored her huff, "you're not a freak. Okay, so maybe you have some issue to still work on, but anyone would have been freaked out in the same situation."

"You weren't," she muttered. "You almost seem proud to be caught sucking on my tit."

I smirked. "It's a nice tit."

"Edward!" she laughed. "I'm serious!"

"Baby, I am, too," I snickered, kissing her check. "And I was embarrassed; but more than that, I was worried about you. Don't you understand that you're everything to me?"

"Why?" she murmured, searching my eyes. "Why am I so important to you?"

"How can you still ask me that after everything we've been through?" I shook my head, pressing my body against hers. "Bella, you gave me someone to love."

"Emmett, right?" she teased, but there was a vulnerability inside her that burned into my soul.

"Well, you know, he does have big muscles." I winked at her. She laughed, sliding her arms around my neck. "Baby, you know you're the only person—male or female—that I've ever loved, or will ever love."

"I do," she admitted. "I just don't always understand why when I'm such a mess."

"You are anything, but a mess," I scoffed. "You're beautiful and sexy as hell. You're smart and sassy. You don't take my bullshit and aren't afraid to call me a dick when I'm acting like one. You're prefect, baby, made just for me."

"That was-" Bella started.

"Incredibly cheesy," Benjamin scoffed. Rolling my eyes, I fell onto my back. Why did everyone have to keep interrupting us today? "Dude, really? You're perfect, baby, made just for me? Does Bella actually lead you around by your dick?"

"Dude-" I began, but clamped my mouth shut when Bella scrambled to her feet. I expected her run away; however, instead she walked up to him, rearing her arm back and sucker punching him in the gut.

"Oh, fuck," he groaned, dropping to his knees. Damn, my girl was fucking hot.

"It wasn't cheesy; it was fucking romantic, you asshole," Bella snarled pushing him over into his back with her foot. "Are you crying?

"No," he sniffled, attempting to hide the tears on his face.

Smirking, she squatted down next to him, pressing her knee into his chest. Benjamin groaned, but she ignored him when she reached over and ran a finger along his cheekbone. "For someone who isn't crying, there sure are a lot of tears on your face."

"You fucking hurt me," he spat, pushing her off of him. "Damn, you didn't need to punch me."

"You didn't need to be a jerk," she snapped, standing up.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'm sorry, just don't hit me anymore, because, Bella, you hit hard."

"Oh, I know." She smirked, before coming back over to me and reaching out of my hand. "Come on, baby. Let's get the fuck out of here."

Laughing, just out of pure shock at the situation, I placed my hand in hers and let her pull me to my feet. I slipped my arm around her waist as we walked past Benjamin, who glared at her. While Bella certainly overreacted over his little comment, something told me he wouldn't be stupid enough to make it again. Nestling herself closer to me, she sighed. While I knew she was still struggling with the images that haunted her during the night and the embarrassment over being caught in a compromising position, for now she was okay. All we could do is focus on right now.


	12. Chapter 12

This was it. The moment we'd been working toward for three months. Bella and I were standing outside the gym at Berkeley University. Our team crowded in around us, blue and yellow bags slung up on their shoulders. Intensive training had led us to this instant, one that I could only pray we were ready for. The future of our program was on the line and the weight of everyone's hope rested on our shoulders.

Phil reached out, opening the double doors and looking back at us. A wry smile crept up over his lips and a glint of excitement flashed in his eyes. "Let's go."

With a simple nod, I slipped my hand into Bella's, feeling her fingers shaking. I wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay, but there were no guarantees in life—a lesson we'd learned the hard way.

The gym was full of students from competing schools, their laughter echoing off the walls. Concrete stands wrapped around the floor, which had been changed from the traditional basketball court into a platform full of boxing rings. There had to be a half a dozen spread across the floor, red and blue ropes wrapped around posts that encircled the midnight blue mats.

"Holy fuck," Liam muttered. Looking over my shoulder at him, I chuckled under my breath. His eyes were the size of hubcaps and his mouth hung open. You'd think he'd never been to a tournament before.

"Dude, close your mouth. This ain't nothing," I snickered. "We have two long-ass days of this so get ready."

We followed Phil down the steps, each one feeling like they were twice as steep as the previous. Nobody really paid us any attention, we were inconsequential to them. Our program had never been a threat and because of that, we were overlooked by the masses. For most of them, this was just the start of a new season, but for us, this was all we had and we'd do everything we could to savage what little time we had left. Hopefully, it'd be enough.

Phil stopped and looked back at us, his eyes flittering between me and Bella. He expected us to lead this team, but I still wasn't convinced we'd be able to. They resisted us and we didn't trust them. "Find a spot and start stretching. I'll get us registered and find our schedules."

He spun on his heel and headed over to the registration table. Swallowing against the lump in my throat, I turned toward our team. Nerves and fear oozed off of them. Reassuring words rushed to the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. Would they be open to anything we had to offer?

"Well, you heard the man" Bella muttered, clearing her throat. "Let's get ready."

Tightening her grip on my hand, she pulled me toward the east corner of the gym, farthest away from everyone. I tossed my bag into the corner before sitting on the floor. Bella slid down next to me, pulling her feet up and pressing her knees to the mats. One by one the rest of our team followed, their eyes darting around the large, cavernous room.

Sticking her legs out in front of her, Bella reached out and grabbed her toes, pressing her nose against her knees. "They can smell fear," she murmured, drawing everyone's attention to her. "If you step into those rings looking like you're a fish out of water, they're going to demolish you by the end of the first round." Nobody spoke. Bella spread her legs into a V-shape, flexing her toes toward her body. She wrapped her fingers around them, lowering her chest until it was flush with the mats. "It's hard—believe me, I know—but when you let it go and fight your asses off…" She shook her head, a wry smile slipping over her lips. "Leave it all on the mats, everything you have. If you do that, then no matter what the scoreboard says, you'll be a winner."

She dug her iPod out of her bag, stuffing her earbuds in her ears and setting her favorite play list. Smirking, I followed her lead, leaving everyone sitting around us with shock on their faces. She was right, though. Until they were ready to let it all out, they'd never truly be winners, not where it mattered, anyway. After scrolling through my playlist, I decided to go with some Evanescence. Most wouldn't have gone with them, but there was something empowering about Amy Lee's voice that sent shivers through me.

Ten minutes later, Phil came back over, handing us each our ring assignments and schedules. My first fight wasn't for an hour. I almost snorted when I noticed the name in the bracket with mine: Felix Wilson. He and I had competed in the final round of the Las Vegas Tournament last year. It'd been a close match, ultimately coming down to a mere two point difference between us. I had the advantage, and he hadn't been very happy about it, either.

Peeking over Bella's shoulder, I saw that her first match would be in half an hour at ring two. Her opponent was some chick named Irina Stoker from Stanford University, a senior and ranked tenth at the national level. No pressure or anything. Though, she had a look of focus and confidence on her face.

"Okay, listen up." Phil clapped his hands to get all our attention. "We have a long day ahead of us. I need you to focus. Keep your feet moving, eyes open, and elbows tucked in." He paused, a look of uncertainty creeping over his face.

Missy reached out, laying het hand on his foot. The seemingly innocent gesture was ignored by the rest of our team, but Bella and I knew the meaning behind it. He'd stood up for her, protected her, when she needed him the most. While his motives around bringing us to UCLA were questionable in the beginning, Phil was just a man who loved boxing and didn't want to see our program slip through the cracks.

"There's a moment in every fighter's life that defines them. Yours might come today or maybe even tomorrow. Whenever it happens, you'll feel it in your soul. Give everything you have in the ring. If you do, then the feeling of pride you'll feel will be greater than any victory ever will."

With a deep, calming breath, I stood up, picking up my bag, slinging it up over my shoulder. Bella took my hand, letting me help her to her feet. Looking back at everyone, I smile. "Let's show these fuckers how we do it."

One by one our team stood up, determination slipping over each of them. We may not win, but we'd give it everything we could and make sure that when we stepped into the ring, they remembered who we were: Bruins. In my mind the crowd parted as we made our way across the gym, one or two of us falling off the end when they reached their ring. However, this was the real world and nobody gave a flying fuck is we were making our stand.

Embry and Liam were the first to leave us, stopping at ring number six. Missy and Bree went to the next ring, while Demetri, Riley, Heidi, and Maggie crossed through the middle toward rings three and five. Pausing at ring four, I turned to Bella, brushing my fingers across her cheeks. She and Tia would be fighting at the same ring.

Bella smiled before leaning up and kissing me. "I love you," she whispered against my lips. "Kick some ass for me, baby."

"I will," I murmured. "I love you, too."

Somehow I managed to pull myself way from her. I wasn't worried about how she'd do. Bella belonged in the ring, the one place other than in my arms that she felt truly safe from the world. No, my reluctance to leave her embrace had more to do with my needing to feel her touch. I was addicted to Bella and not one part of me felt ashamed for needing, or wanting, her.

Benjamin and I stopped at the edge of ring one. Kicking our bags under our bench, we sat down and started our prep. Of course in reality, we were sizing up our competition. There were a dozen or so fighters working on taping their hands or doing a few last minute stretches. A couple of the guys in red and gold were leaned back with their ankles crossed in front of them, laughing over whatever they'd shared. Inwardly, I laughed at their strategy. It was game, a mere ruse to make the rest of us think they weren't shaking with fear inside. Their cocky attitude would end up being their downfall. Already, I could see what it I'd need to take them both out.

As the first match was getting ready to start, I pulled my iPod from my bag. With my earbuds in place, I tuned everything else out, trying to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. My sole objective today was to win. Not because Phil demanded it of me, but because I had to be victorious. Failure didn't come from the number of points on the scoreboard, but with the amount of heart and soul I threw into every punch. This was my moment and nobody could take it from me unless I let them.

Placing my elbows on my knees, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on our training. We'd pushed ourselves, made sure our legs would be able to carry our weight through dozens of rounds. Our stamina had been tested repeatedly, but now, we would face the ultimate challenge. We weren't facing amateurs. Now, we found ourselves leaping into the lion's den with only the hope that we'd be able to outsmart them.

Someone placed their hand on my shoulder, jarring my attention. Opening my eyes, I found Phil standing in front of me, wearing a goofy smile. I pulled my earbuds out and dropped my iPod in my bag. Benjamin was in the ring, battling against one of the annoying boys in red and gold. Throwing a roundhouse/uppercut combination, he pushed his competitor into the corner, setting his feet and preparing to take him out.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Just thought I'd check on you." He shrugged his shoulders before taking the seat next to me. "How are you feeling? Staying loose?"

"Yep," I quipped, fiddling with the tape around my hands. Phil grabbed my hand, pulling in front of him. "What's on your mind?"

He laughed. "Am I that transparent?"

"Kind of," I muttered.

"You know, being the oldest isn't easy," he started, shifting his eyes to the ring.

"I wouldn't know," I quipped.

He smiled. "No, I guess you wouldn't." Phil turned to me. "I know that I've put a lot of pressure on you and Bella to lead this team. That might be unfair of me, but take a look around you. They need you and Bella to pave the road for them. You may not think you're a leader, but they follow you whether or not you're ready." Standing up, he clapped me on my shoulder. "Remember to keep your legs under you."

Phil headed to the edge of the ring just as Benjamin's match ended. They'd only gone one and a half rounds, but that was all it took for him to beat his opponent. Pulling off his head gear, Benjamin shoved his sweaty hair out of his face. He wore a huge smile and I could almost feel the adrenaline soaring through him. He was intoxicated with power.

"Dude, that was… I can't even tell you!" he exclaimed, flopping down on the bench next to me. "Fuck, just wow."

Laughing, I pulled my gloves out of my bag and stood up. "You did good."

"You weren't even watching," he scoffed.

"Sorry," I muttered.

He shrugged his shoulders and ran his towel over his face. "That's okay because I know you were getting your head on straight. I mean, fuck, you didn't even notice that Bella won her match."

"I don't need to watch her to know she kicked ass," I said, smiling. "She doesn't lose. Ever."

Popping my mouth piece in, I walked over and climbed into my ring, bringing my arms up over my head and making sure I'd stretched good. Felix pulled the ropes apart and sliding in on the opposite side of the ring. He looked over at me, a smarmy smirk creeping over his lips. Smug bastard needed to be taken down a notch or two.

Our referee called us to the middle, giving us the usual lecture of playing nice and no cheap shots. Nodding our agreement, Felix and I bumped gloves before heading back into our respective corners. A minute later, the judges rang the bell, signaling the beginning of the first round. Exhaling a deep, sharp breath, I turned my attention to the boy across from me.

_Time to go to work._

Felix took a step toward me, his arms up in front of him. I mimicked his movements, my eyes trained on his feet. He'd worked on his footwork, but he was still sloppy. His left dragged across the mat, while his right hit too hard. He'd be lucky to make it through two matches at this rate.

Closing the distance between us, he threw a wild right hook. I ducked, hitting him with a left in the side causing him to groan. Felix spun around, trying to find me but I was too quick. With a left jab, I hit his shoulder, followed by a right shot to his ribs. He cringed, falling against the ropes. However, before I could take advantage of the moment, he pushed off of them, sliding around me. I kept the front of my body toward him, not allowing him blindside me.

By the start of the third round, Felix was showing signs of fatigue. His arms were lower, staying down around his stomach instead of protecting his ribs. Using the back of my arm, I wiped the sweat off my forehead, trying to focus on ending this. The noise around me grew louder as the fighters in the other rings struggled through their own matches. Through a calming breath, I pushed everyone else out, channeling my attention on the task set before me. Four more minutes that would define not only my season, but who I'd become over the last few months. The bell rang, reverberating straight to my soul. My eyes snapped open and all I found in front of me was him, the one person who could take this from me.

_Only if I let him._

I rushed him, not giving him a moment to breathe much less take what was rightfully mine. Felix didn't expect me to attack him. He backed up against the ropes, throwing his arms up in a feeble attempt to thwart me. I wouldn't let him. Making sure to keep my arm up front of me, I alternated my punches: jab, uppercuts, and roundhouses. I shielded his attempts to push me off by turning my shoulder into him, bracing my feet against the mats.

Time felt like it slowed down. My arm reared back before slowly falling forward and connecting with his jaw. Felix's head spun to the side, spit spraying from his mouth. Adrenaline soared through my veins, the rush intoxicated me. Throwing a left uppercut/right roundhouse combination, Felix slammed back against the ropes before slithering to the ground.

Grabbing my shoulder, the referee shoved me into my corner, then kneeling down next to him. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Felix shook his head, waving his hand in the air. The referee nodded, stood up, and walked over to me. Taking hold of my arm, he raised it and announced, "Winner."

"YES!" Bella screamed. I turned, finding her standing next to Benjamin, Phil, and Tia. She had a look of pure, unadulterated lust oozing off of her.

Tearing my arm out of the ref's grip, I climbed through the ropes. My feet hit the ground, moving me to where she stood. Barely able to get my mouth piece out first, I wrapped my arms around Bella, holding everything I needed close to me. My eyes closed just moments before my lips touched hers.

_Perfection_.


	13. Chapter 13

The moment my arms were wrapped around Bella everything around us faded away. It was just me and her, the two of us fighting for our place in the world. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat that reality came crashing down on us. We weren't alone; we were in the middle of a large gymnasium with hundreds of people milling around us. Not that we cared. They could go to hell if they didn't like us together.

Pulling my lips from Bella's, I rested my forehead against hers, taking a deep breath. "You won."

It wasn't a question, but she nodded her head anyway. "I kicked that bitch's ass. She came out of her corner all cocky and shit. It was almost like she was begging me to destroy her."

"Like she had chance." I smirked, brushing my lips against hers again. "When's your next match?"

"Um, twenty minutes," she murmured with a sigh. "Some bitch from Florida who looks like she's maybe twelve."

"Okay, baby, don't hold back."

Bella smiled. "I won't. Keep your elbows in. You got a bit loose there at the end."

I snorted. "Sure thing, baby."

Pressing her lips against mine one more time, Bella grabbed her bag, ignored the annoyed look on Phil's face, and headed back over to her ring. He could be as pissed as he wanted, neither of us really cared. Our love for each other was what pushed us to do our best and to never give up. Our love made us survivors, we wouldn't let him or anyone take that from us.

I sat on the bench and took off my gloves, dropping them into bag along with my head gear. Digging into the bottom, I pulled out my towel, dragging it over my face and wiping away the grime from my last match. Benjamin plopped down on the bench next to me. I could feel him watching me with a smirk on his face. Turning toward him, I let my glare speak for itself. He of all people should know better than give either of us a hard time for losing ourselves in the other. It wasn't like he and Tia weren't just as bad.

"Don't even fucking start, dude," I muttered, dropping my towel back in my bag.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he snickered. Benjamin leaned back and placed his arms behind his head, the smirk still covering his lips.

Rolling my shoulders back to keep loose, I stood up. "When is your next match?"

"An hour," he replied. "Some dude from the University of Texas, Morgan…something or other. I forget."

"He fought yet?" I asked, trying to keep the focus off of me and Bella.

Benjamin shrugged. "I don't know."

Sighing, I kicked him in the shin. "Dude, you have to know this. Watching your competitors is just as vital as anticipating their moves when you find yourself against the ropes."

"Okay, I'm sorry, oh fearless leader," he mumbled, stalking away from me.

I sat back down on my bench, taking a big drink from my water bottle. Though I tried not to hide it, I found myself watching Bella's fight. The girl she was pummeling was cowering in the corner, her arms trying to protect her head. It was a feeble effort; the sting of Bella's punch could be felt through a brick wall. The referee grabbed Bella's arm before she could land another blow, yanking her into her corner. Normally, I'd feel sorry for anyone who touched Bella like that, but she's stay professional in the ring. This was her livelihood after all.

Placing her hands on the ropes, Bella looked over at me, a smile spreading over her mouth piece. I shivered, ducking my eyes away. Watching her was intoxicating, sending me spiraling in the yearning to be with her. I pulled my iPod out of my bag and scrolled through my playlists, settling on some Blue October. Extending my legs out in front of me, I closed my eyes, trying to focus my thoughts on my next fight.

Just over an hour and three matches later, I redid the tape on my hands before putting my gloves back on. I climbed into the ring, stretched my arms over my head, and tried my hardest to block out the noise echoing around me. With each new match, the field was narrowing. By the next day only six would be left standing, just to climb back in between the eighteen by eighteen foot ring and battle our way till the end.

As my opponent climbed in between the red and blue ropes, I sized him up. Taller by nearly three inches, Tyson Murphy stood in the opposite corner had shaggy black and tight shoulders. He reminded me of Emmett, relying on his brawn more than skill. Which wasn't necessarily a bad strategy, but finding a balance would give any decent fighter the advantage. At least, that's what I thought.

The referee called us into the middle of the ring, instructing us to bump gloves and reminding us to keep it civil. With simple nods, we both agreed and went back to our corners. I managed to get my mouth piece in just before the bell chimed and signaled the start of our match.

Tyson came right at me, choosing to use his strength and take me out early. I almost felt pity for him as I ducked around the left roundhouse he tossed at me and caught him in the ribs with a right jab. Back and forth we went at each other; him using his muscles in a feeble attempt to ware me down and me waiting until he'd tired himself out. It only took me a round and a half to see his shoulders sagging or the way his left foot dragged along the mat. Squaring my shoulders, I pushed him against the ropes, blocking his escape route on either side. He was my bitch now.

Just like the match before time felt like it slowed down. I could hear the crowd yelling and screaming for me to finish him, see the beads of sweat as they trickled off his brow. The air felt thick, the anticipation of each hit that was waiting to be released from my fists swirled around us. Inside my gloves, I dug my fingers into the padding and threw a left hook followed with a right jab. Each groan and grunt sounded twenty times louder than they were. My fists connected with the side of his head, jarring it in one direction before the next blow sent it back in the other. Like a ragdoll, he flopped against the ropes, somehow still managing to keep his legs under him.

It wasn't until the bell rang and signaled the end of the match that I stumbled back and time seemed to catch up with me. Tyson slide to the ground, his arms lying heavily at his side. Any effort he had made to stop me was long forgotten.

"In your corner," the referee ordered, pushing against my shoulder. I turned and walked over there, curving my gloves around the ropes while he accessed the fighter lying broken and defeated. A couple of minutes later, he came over and lifted my arm. "Winner."

"Thanks," I muttered around my mouth piece. Pulling the blue and red ropes apart, I climbed out of the ring and rolled onto the balls of my feet when I jumped off the edge of the mats. Shifting my attention over, I saw Bella in the midst of her next fight. The poor girl across from her never stood a chance.

By the time day one of the tournament had ended, I'd faced four more opponents, beating all of them without much effort. Both Bella and I advanced to the next day, along with Liam and Tia. The rest of our team had fallen to the wayside along the way; some were prepared to admit where they'd gotten lazy with their footwork while others grumbled under their breaths about everyone cheating. I sighed; until they were willing to face their flaws they'd never be able to fix them.

Shoving everything into the bottom of my bag, I hooked it up over my shoulder and wandered over to where Bella was standing with the rest of our team. She'd pulled the black rubber band from her hair, letting it hang down her back. Her cheeks were still pink from a day full of exertion. She lifted her eyes to mine, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth. She acted so innocent, yet she seduced me with a single look.

"Okay, everyone," Phil said, clapping his hands together. Bella turned her head, letting her gaze drop to the floor. "We're gonna grab a quick bit from the cafeteria before heading to the hotel. We've all had a long day, but we still have one more to go before we're done."

We trudged our way up the cement steps and across the campus. There was already a line forming outside of the cafeteria. Bella leaned against me, resting her forehead on the middle of my chest. Her hands slipped around my waist, gripping the back of my shirt. The sweet scent of her sweat mixed in with her nature purity, making it nearly impossible to keep my body away from her. A dozen images if her naked and writhing under me flashed before me.

Before I could put one of the many fantasies into action, the line started moving and cursed under my breath. The dining hall at Berkeley wasn't much different than ours; they pretty much offered the same types of foods. Since we'd burned through a lot of energy today, we loaded up on carbs, being careful not to overdo it. Bella was oddly quiet while we ate, not that I really talked much either. She smiled, the corners lifting a little higher when I placed my hand on the middle of her back. Tilting her head toward me, she winked. Oh, the girl was teasing the fuck out of me.

We'd just finished eating when the team from Stanford came upstairs. Their coach, a tall man with blond hair and beady eyes, looked over at us. His gazed over each of us, stopping on Bella before moving straight to Phil. The smile that spread over his lips could only be described as creepy. Bella shuddered against me, sliding as close as she could. I knew what she was thinking; he reminded her of Aro.

"Well, Phil Dwyer," he cackled, leading his team over to us. Standing directly behind him, a woman with strawberry blond hair and deep blue eyes shifted her attention to Bella. The scowl on her face as she gave Bella the once over didn't go unnoticed, not by me or Bella. "Nice showing today. Honestly I wasn't sure you'd ever show up here with any decent talent, but I suppose miracles do happen."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats. It was an insult to all of us. Phil dropped his napkin on the table and stood up, a hard look in his eyes. "Alastair," he gritted out, his jaw clenched so tight, I thought he'd crack it. "I'm surprised you can even recognize what talent looks like. Aren't you used to buying your athletes?"

I expected Alastair to get angry at the accusation; however, he threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, Phil, still bitter that I prevented Tanya from wasting her gift in your program?" He looked over at Bella. "Don't be so upset, you have a Cullen after all. That has to boast your alumni support. I mean, it's not like her family is a joke in the boxing world or anything."

Alastair and his team laughed as they walked away from us, settling at a series of tables behind us. Bella pushed her chair back and stood up. Without a word to anyone, she walked down the metal stairs and out of our view. Sighing, I followed. She'd hang on to this, letting it keep her from succeeding. That bastard used the one thing he knew would hurt her; the guilt she still carried for not being able to save her family the pain of her parents' betrayal.

"Bella, wait," I called, grabbing her arm just as she threw the doors to the dining hall open. The stifling heat slammed into us. She spun around, her lips were clamped tight and her eyes were full of tears that she struggled to keep from falling. Bringing my hand up to her cheek, I said, "He's an ass, it means nothing."

"It means everything," she muttered. "Being a Cullen has done nothing but cause me shit for three years now."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to make it better," I replied.

Bella sighed, leaning into my hand. "You can't, I know that it's stupid to be upset by what some asshat said, but I don't want to be judged because of my parents. I want to be judged because I work my ass off."

"I hope you haven't worked it totally off." I smirked and leaned down to her ear. "It's a fucking fantastic ass that I have fantasized about all day, baby."

Bella gasped, her skin turning a rosy red. "Oh yeah?" I nodded, sucking her earlobe between my lips. "Hmm, good to know."

I groaned when I heard the door open behind us and the grumbles from our teammates following. Bella smirked as she pulled away from me. Before anyone could question her, she assured them she was okay. Phil didn't look like he believed her, but didn't say anything. We followed back across campus to where the bus was and headed to the hotel.

Bella and I had barely closed the door to our room before I had her pinned against it. Her moans were lost as my mouth claimed hers. My body craved hers, thirsted for the touch of her hand, the feel of her under me, around me, on top of me. I didn't care; I just wanted her.

Stumbling backwards, I searched for the bed while keeping my lips on hers, my hands greedily roaming over her body. My knees buckled as I hit the bed. In a heartbeat, I spun us. Though reluctant, I released her lips, grabbing her hips and turning her so that her back faced me. She cried out as I grabbed the waistband of her shorts, dragging them down her legs along with her white, cotton panties.

I ripped off my shirt, tossing it on the floor carelessly. I ached for her. Sliding my hands around to her front, I grabbed the hem of her shirt, slipping it up her body, exposing her creamy skin. It fell from my fingers as I lowered my lips to her shoulder, trailing a line of kissed up her neck to her ear.

"You are so fucking beautiful, baby," I whispered, guiding my hands under her black, spandex sports bra. Bella shivered against me, her back aching toward me.

"Edward," she moaned, her arms lifting so I could remove her last article of clothing. I grabbed her hips, pressing my cock into her. "Baby, please."

"Do you feel how hard you make me?" I growled, sucking her earlobe in between my lips. "All I think about is you; how warm your pussy is, how you look under me. I want to fuck you, taking you so hard that you can't even scream out my name. And, baby, you know how much I love the sound of my name falling from between your lips."

Bella whimpered.

With a coy smile I pushed on her lower back, bending her over the edge of the bed. Leaving my hand on her back, I tugged my shorts and boxers off, kicking them away. I wrapped my hand around my cock, stroking myself a few times while I rubbed the head along her soaking slit. Bella moaned, trying to push herself back into me. Yeah, my girl needed me, too. Pressing just the tip into her, I grabbed her hips, thrusting into her in one, swift move. My head fell back, her tight warmth hugging me. I could live inside her pussy for the rest of my life and never get tired of how she feels. I tightened my grip on her hips and began thrusting, setting a fast and hard pace. The time for us to be slow and gentle had passed, tonight was all about our need for each other.

"Oh, fuck, baby," I growled, my skin slammed into hers. "Watching you in the ring today, the way you moved. It made me so fucking hard."

"Ed—Edward." Her fingers clenched on the blanket under her, her knuckles turning white from her efforts to hold on. Sliding one of my hands up her back, I grabbed her shoulder, giving myself more leverage. Bella's head fell forward, her moans muffled by the padding under her. "Oh, Jesus fuck!"

"Yeah, baby, you like this, don't you?" My words came out in breathless grunts. "You feel so good, wrapped around my cock. You made just for me, love. Just. For. Me."

"Edward, please," she cried.

She was shaking, the effort to hold off for me taking its toll on her. Part of me wanted to make her beg for her release, to push herself to the point that she lost control, but the other half, the greedy part, wanted her to come now, to show me that she was mine.

Tightening my grip on her, I increased my thrusts. Almost immediately her walls clenched around me. Bella slammed her hands on the bed, a series of four letter words trickling out of her mouth. Spurred on by her reaction to me, I lifted my leg, placing my knee on the bed and changing the angle in which I filled her. The sensation was almost too much for me. Bella pushed up on her hands, looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were filled with a hunger that had nothing to do with food. That look sent me over the edge. Letting my head fall back, I stilled my hips, the feeling of euphoria washing over me. My legs gave out on me. I crumbled into the bed, rolling onto my side and pulling Bella with me. I was where I was supposed to be: in her arms.


	14. Chapter 14

I woke the next morning just after five. My body was sore, tight from a full day inside of the ring, but at the same time, I was excited for what today would bring. Standing in that ring, fighting for my place in today's rounds was nothing short of incredible. But it was overwhelming, too. As if the pressure weighing on mine and Bella's shoulders wasn't heavy enough, there was even more thrown on top by our advancing into day two. Though, I wouldn't have done it any differently. And neither would Bella. We weren't made that way. Every challenge we faced, we did it with determination and gumption.

Detangling myself from Bella's arms, I climbed out of our bed, grabbed my iPod, and placed my earbuds in. There wasn't a need to put my clothes on, only Bella was in here with me and she'd made it clear that she preferred me naked. I scrolled through my playlist, trying to find the right music for today's matches. After going through them three times, I settled on my Daughtry list. Feeling antsy, I slid into one of the blue, leather chairs next to the small table, propped my feet up on the other chair, and closed my eyes, all in an effort to focus on today. Two opponents stood between me and the championship match.

I'm not sure how long I'd been sitting there when I felt Bella slip her legs over mine so that she was straddling me. My hands moved to her hips, the warmth of her naked pussy sliding along the length of my rapidly hardening cock. I opened my eyes, the image before me causing my breath to catch in my chest. Bella naked, her long, dark brown hair caressed her shoulders. She peered down at me, her eyes full of innocence and love. Her skin shimmered, and her nipples were perky.

Without a word, she pushed up on the tips of her toes, sliding her body so that she was right over my dick. Keeping her attention locked on me, she slid down, taking me into her body. We both groaned; the feeling of being connected once more felt so natural. Bella placed her hands on my shoulders, setting a slow and steady pace. Our eyes never left each other's. This wasn't a wild, hardcore fuck like last night. We were making love, letting our bodies speak the words we'd spoken so many times. We were more than lovers, we were everything.

She reached up and pulled the buds out of my ears, tossing my iPod onto the table. The sounds of our bodies meeting filled the air, our heavy breaths and muttered moans. Her hands came off my shoulder, sliding up her belly, over her pebbled nipples, and into her hair. I'd never seen her look more beautiful than she did right now; her cheeks were pink, her lips were parted, and a light sheen of moisture covered her body.

"Oh, fuck, Edward," Bella panted, increasing her rhythm.

"I know, baby, I know," I moaned.

Sliding my arm around her waist, I dropped my feet from the other chair and stood up, keeping my cock buried deep inside of her. Bella wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me as I carried her over to our bed, positioning myself over her. I grabbed her thigh, pulling it over my hip as I thrust hard. Bella arched into me, her mouth opening but no sound escaping.

"I love you," I murmured, thrusting over and over. "Never leave me, baby. I need you so fucking much."

"Never," she gasped. Bella tangled her fingers in my hair, her nails raking against my scalp. "You saved me, gave me a reason to live, lover. You own me." Bella pushed her head into the bed under her. "So close, baby."

"Let go," I grunted, punctuation each word with a shift of my hips. "Come on, love, give it to me."

Bella gasped and she pulled my mouth down against hers. Her pussy clenched down against me, milking me through my own release. We rode our mutual orgasms out, clinging onto each other. After a couple of minutes, I fell onto the bed next to her, trying to catch my breath. Bella knew just how to play my body.

"You were awake early," she whispered, nestling up against me. "What were you thinking about?"

"Everything," I replied, snaking my arm under her and letting my hand rest on his hip. "Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow."

"Are you nervous about today?" she asked, leaning up on one elbow.

I nodded. "A little. There was already so much pressure on us. Making it to the final day will just add on to their expectations, right?"

"Probably." Bella sighed. "But from what I can tell, no matter what we do anymore, they are going to expect us to lead them. Maybe we need to just accept it. I don't know."

"Maybe," I murmured. Shifting onto my side, I tightened my grip on her hip. "Right now, I don't want to worry about it."

"Yeah?" The smile that spread over her lips had my heart racing. "So, what do you want to worry about?"

"I just want you," I whispered, the words tumbling out of my mouth with a tremor. "I love you."

Bella laid her palm against my cheek. "And I love you, baby. You gave me my life back."

Shaking my head, I closed my eyes. "No, you gave me someone to fight for. You let me in, made me believe that I was worth something."

"You're worth everything." Bella whimpered, causing my eyes to snap open. She had tears fighting to fall. "You could have run when you found out just how fucked up I am."

"Was," I corrected. "You're not anymore."

"Maybe, but you still could have run."

"No," I disagreed. "You captivated me from day one. I couldn't have left you even if I wanted to."

Bella's cheeks turned a beautiful red. "You see me differently than other boys."

"I'm not a boy, baby." I winked at her. "I'm a man."

"Oh, a man, huh?" she purred. "A big, strong man?"

"Mmhmm," I hummed, brushing my lips against hers. "Your man."

"Just mine," she murmured. "Just like I'm only yours."

"Only mine," I agreed.

Bella and I stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a while, just enjoying the feeling of being together. Though, like all good times, real life caught up with us and a bang on our hotel door reminded us that we had to fight today. Fight for today, tomorrow, and every day after.

Half an hour later, Bella and I had showered and dressed, both of us wearing our trademark blue and gold once again. Making sure we had everything we'd need for today's matches, we headed down to the lobby, trying to get our focus on the job before us and not letting fear keep us from losing who we were.

Nobody else from our team had made it down so we plopped down on the sofa, each of us digging into our bags and pulling our iPods out. This was just how we focus. We let our music set the pace for us. Today, we'd have to be smarter than whoever we faced in the ring, making sure that we didn't strike until the moment was just right. Today, we had to be perfect.

Bella and I sat in the lobby for twenty minutes before the rest of the team showed up. Everyone but Phil, Liam, and Tia were dressed casually. Though, all of them looked as nervous as we felt. They may have come up short the day before, but they'd thrown everything they could into the ring. Just this time, it wasn't enough. Hopefully, when we went back to UCLA, they'd set in to work harder, to learn from their mistakes, and not make them next time.

Bella and I shoved our iPods back into our bag and followed them out to the buses. Liam settled into one of the front seats with Maggie attached to him. They'd become almost inseparable over the last few months. At first, I wondered if it was just because they were both too scared of me and Bella, afraid we'd attack them in the middle of the night, but now, I wonder if it isn't more than that. Maybe they loved each other; found they needed each other more than they needed air to breath.

Tia and Benjamin took the seats across from me and Bella. We already knew they were attached at the lips. Much like us, they'd forged their connection in the ring, and spent every day since fighting to hold onto the love they found. They'd make it. Bella slipped her fingers into mine, and laid her head on my shoulder. Turning, I pressed my forehead against the top of her head, closed my eyes, and held onto the feeling of her wrapped around me — where she was meant to be.

Half an hour later, we pulled into the parking lot in front of the Berkeley Gymnasium. Our driver, Moe, opened the door and climbed off. However, before any of us moved, Phil stood up and placed his hands on the backs of the seats in front of him.

"Before we head inside, I want to say a few words," he started. Pausing for a moment, he shook his head. "Yesterday, I saw us taking the first steps toward the future. We still have a lot of work to do, but there's hope. You put yourselves on the line, gave every match everything you had, and for that, I am proud of each of you." Phil looked at Liam and Tia, before shifting his attention to me and Bella. "Regardless of what the outcome is today, know that we're all behind you."

Bella stood up. "That's good and everything, and I can't speak for Edward, Liam, or Tia, but I'm gonna go in there and kick some ass. Today, it's our turn to shove our feet up their asses and make sure they don't forget that we're here to stay."

"That's right," I said, standing up. "Let's do this."

Liam and Tia nodded, joining us in the aisle. Phil laughed before turning and nearly jumping out of the bus. We filed out, the rest of the team falling in behind us. Unlike yesterday when we walking into the large gym, people turned and took notice. Fingers were pointed, whispers could be heard. Whether they were good or bad, we'd most likely never know and right now, we didn't care. All we could focus on was the task at hand, and that making sure we owned the ring.

Today, unlike the day before, there were only two rings in the gym: one for the women's division and one for the men's. Phil motioned for us to take the same corner we used before to stretch so Bella and I led them in that direction. We settled on the floor, stretching out our sore, tired muscles. After half a dozen matches yesterday, we'd have to be careful not to injure ourselves. Our bodies had already been put through the ringer, and every person we faced would be looking to knock us out early. Maybe they didn't think of us as a threat, perhaps they did. It wouldn't matter. We'd prove to them that we deserved to be there.

Phil came over to us, squatting down with a sheet of paper hanging between his fingers. "Okay, Liam, you're up in the first match. Your opponent's name is Max Stevens. He's a junior at University of South Florida. He placed eleventh at the NCAA tournament last year."

"And you're telling me this to scare me?" Liam huffed.

Phil scoffed. "No, I just want you to be prepared."

"Yeah, well, I am," Liam muttered.

Nodding, Phil turned to me. "Edward, you're in the second match. Some guy named Paul Meliz. He comes from the University of Tennessee. He's a freshman, but from what I saw yesterday, he's got some talent."

"Nothing I can't handle," I groused.

"No, I imagine not," he agreed. Shifting his attention from me to Bella, he sighed. "You're up first, Bella."

"Tell me about her," Bella said, pulling her legs up in front of her.

"Name's Olivia Cornell, she's a senior here at Berkeley. She's good; powerful punches and good legs."

Bella nodded. "Anything else?"

"She's gonna be hard, Bella," Phil added.

"Yeah, I know, but that's why it's called a fight. It shouldn't be easy. Don't worry about me; I'll kick that bitch's ass."

The corners of his mouth twitched. Phil looked over at Tia. "You're in the third round. You're facing Tanya Sanders."

"Ranked number one in the nation, senior at University of Georgia, and said to never lose in the ring." Tia laughed. "Yeah, I do my homework. Don't worry, I'm ready."

"Yeah, you are." Phil sighed and stood up. "You all are."


	15. Chapter 15

Now that everyone had been briefed on our first opponents, it was time to fight. We hadn't come all the way from L.A. to give up now. Today was the day we made sure that nobody forgot us.

I'd expected our team to stay where they were while Liam, Tia, Bella, and I wandered over to our mats, but they surprised me. Embry, Demetri, Benjamin, and Riley proudly stood behind me and Liam while we taped our hands. Even though my match wasn't for over an hour, I wanted to be ready. Liam had the first match of the morning and our fellow teammates were showing our solidarity.

"Okay, man, you're ready for this," I said, shoving his gloves on. "Remember; keep your elbows tucked in and your chin down. Don't give him anything."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he muttered. A look of uncertainty crossed his features when he shifted his eyes to the other side of the ring where Max was waiting for him. Broad through shoulders, Max glowered at Liam, giving him the impression that he was a badass.

"Hey, look at me!" I snapped. Liam shifted his attention back to me. "You've got this. That jackhole doesn't have anything on you. When you get into that ring, leave everything you have there. Make it count or go home now."

"Jackhole?" he scoffed. "You rant at me like that and the best you can come up with is jackhole?"

Behind us, Benjamin, Riley, Embry, and Demetri are trying hard not to laugh. The corners of my lips twitch. "I was in the moment, fucker. Now get your ass in there and prove that you deserve to be there."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Liam smirked and saluted me before climbing into the ring, which just caused the assholes behind me to laugh harder.

I ignored them and looked over at Bella, who was getting ready for her first match of the day. Her eyes were glued to her opponent, and I knew she was sizing her up, searching for the best way to came at her. The girl she was going against — Olivia whatever her name was — looked strong. She had a good foot over Bella and at least thirty pounds, though I knew that didn't mean shit. Bella was strong. With a smirk, Bella turned her eyes to mine. The intensity rolling off of her told me everything I needed to know — Bella was going to destroy her.

However, before I could watch that, the referee for Liam's match climbed into the ring, pulled both men to the center and gave them the usual play nice speech. With a nod from both Liam and Max, their match started. I knew the minute Max came out of his corner that Liam was in trouble. It wasn't the fact that he'd come out on the offense, or that he had quick feet and kept Liam spinning in an effort to keep up with him. No, it was the look in his eyes. Max was determined to win this match and secure him a spot in the next one. Poor Liam didn't have a chance. A round and half later, the referee declared Max to be the winner. Demetri and I helped Liam out of the ring. He pushed us away. Right now, he needed space, but when we got back to school, I'd make sure he stepped up his game. He was too good of a fighter to let one match stop him from succeeding.

With Liam's match over, I trickled over to Bella's. She and Olivia were in the middle of the third round and both of them were looking haggard. Olivia came at Bella with a wide left hook, which she was able to duck and clipped the girl in the ribs with a left jab. However, Olivia wasn't ready to back down. She spun to her right and hit Bella in the shoulder with a powerful right uppercut. Though Bella didn't cry out, I saw the pain flash over her face.

Bella didn't let it faze her, though. She tightened her elbows and started plowing into Olivia: an uppercut, followed by a left jab/roundhouse combo. Olivia stumbled into the ropes, trying in vain to protect herself but she couldn't. The moment she landed her last blow onto Bella, she'd lost this match. Bella didn't show mercy to anyone — ever.

The minute the referee declared her the winner, Bella climbed out of the ring and tugged her gloves off. "Son of a bitch!" she sneered, rotating her shoulder.

"Here, let me look at it," Phil said, though he paused when Bella growled at him.

Pushing him out of the way, I gripped her arm and turned her so I could look at her shoulder. Phil needed to understand that Bella didn't like people touching her, with the exception of me. A bruise had already started to come up and her joint was starting to swell.

"How bad does it hurt and none of this tough-bitch bullshit?" I asked. "On a scale of one to ten."

"Five," she lied, which I knew to mean at least an eight. "I'll be fine. Just gotta keep it loose."

"Hmm, okay, if you're sure." I released her arm and leaned in to kiss her sweaty forehead. "You did good, baby."

"Thanks," she whispered. "You'd better get ready. You're up next."

"Love you," I murmured just loud enough for her to hear.

She smiled. "Love you, too."

Somehow, I managed to release her and walk back to my ring, though it was hard. Bella fit in my arms, and every moment that I was apart from her caused my heart to ache. Maybe that made me sound like a pussy, but I didn't really care. Bella was my world, my heart, and my soul.

Phil followed me over to my ring. "Are you sure she can compete?"

"Nope," I muttered, dragging my gloves out of my bag. Phil grabbed them from me and helped me put them on. "But I know Bella, Phil. She's not going to let this stop her. She's a fighter. Just make sure she stays flexible and keep her from ripping anyone's head off while I teach Paul here a lesson."

Phil's lips twitched as he fought against the urge to smile. "I'll try."

I climbed into the ring, pulling my arms over my head and trying to keep loose. Paul Meliz was a tall, broad-shouldered Native American, who reminded me a bit of Jacob Black. That thought of that backstabbing bastard had me hating the motherfucker. His dark eyes traveled down my body, a sickening smirk slipped over his lips. Clearly he thought he had the advantage. He was idiot. Once the referee gave us the usual speech, Paul and I bumped gloves and moved back into our corners. Taking a moment to calm myself, I focused all of my attention on taking him out of the tournament. The bell chimed, and I went to work.

Paul did just what I expected him to do: he came out on the attack. Starting with a right roundhouse, he followed with a left hook. He had a good form, kept his elbows in, his feet moving, but he didn't extend his punches very well. By the middle of the second round, I had him on the ropes. He managed to get me off of him, but it was only a matter of time before he crumbled before me.

The start of the third and final round had Paul trying to score as many points as he could. He practically jumped out of his corner, hitting me with a left jab, right jab combo and following it up with a roundhouse to the side of my head. It stung — I won't lie — but it wasn't enough to take me out. Pushing him off of me, I ducked under his responding punch and moved behind him. Paul spun, trying to catch up with me. Unfortunately, he tripped over his feet and fell to the ground. I took advantage of the opportunity and finished this fight. Straddling him, I started pounding my fists into his face and upper body, not caring about what type of hit I was using. I'd just brought my arm back to hit Paul again, when the referee grabbed me and pulled me off of him. My chest was heaving, each breath I sucked into my lungs hurt, but I felt good — powerful.

"Into your corner," the referee ordered, pushing me away and kneeling next to Paul. He started shaking his head, insisting that he was fine. However, the referee called the match and declared me the winner. Paul scrambled to his feet and practically ran flew out of the ring in his effort to get out of the gymnasium. A part of me — albeit very small — felt bad for humiliating him, but if he couldn't take getting beat, then he shouldn't have climbed into the ring.

Benjamin ripped my gloves off and tossed me a towel. I dragged it over my face, trying to wipe away the sweat that poured off me. "Where's Bella?" I panted, trying to catch my breath.

"She's helping Tia get ready for her match," Benjamin replied.

I could hear the worry in his words. He loved Tia, like I loved Bella. I brought a hand up to his shoulder, trying to reassure him that she'd be okay, but I knew it wouldn't do any good, so instead I said, "Let's go watch."

Benjamin nodded and followed me over to the other ring. Bella was inside the ropes with Tia, making sure her glove were on tight and offering her any advice she could. In the opposite corner, Tanya Sanders stood, looking calm and relaxed, like she didn't have a care in the world. The difference in their demeanor said it all: Tia was nervous and anxious while Tanya had confidence in her abilities.

The referee pulled the ropes apart and climbed into the ring.

Bella looked back at Tanya before she came to stand next to me and Benjamin. "She's nervous."

"She'll be okay," I quipped, placing my hand on his shoulder.

The referee called Tia and Tanya to the middle of the ring, giving the usual spiel. Tia stuck her gloves out toward Tanya, but she scoffed and headed back into her own corner. When Tia turned back to us, I could see the pure fear in her eyes. This wasn't going to end well. Before I could say anything, the bell rang and their match began.

Tanya came barreling out of her corner, heading straight for Tia, who barely had time to blink before Tanya was on her. Flurries of angry fists were swung: left then a right, another right, followed by a left. Tai's cries could be heard throughout the gymnasium. She managed to slip under Tanya. Tia tried to scamper to the other side of the ring, but Tanya was on her in a heartbeat, resuming her beating.

"Why aren't they stopping it?" Benjamin snarled. "It's clear she's done."

"I don't know," I muttered.

After several long, agonizing minutes, the bell sounded ending the round. Tanya climbed off of Tia and moved back into her corner. Tia, however, didn't move. In a heartbeat, Phil was inside the ropes, kneeling next to her. The look on his face told us all we needed to know: it was bad.

The gymnasium became deathly quiet as two EMT's brought in a backboard. They managed to get Tia strapped down onto the backboard before lifting her over the ropes and carrying her out to where the ambulance was waiting. Benjamin barely spared us a look as her ran after her. Phil dragged his gingers through his hair before climbing out of the ring.

On the opposite side, Tanya jumped off the platform, laughing when she turned toward one of her teammates. "Did you see that little bitch go down?"

Before I realized what she was doing, Bella had launched herself on Tanya and took her to the ground, beating her with her bare fists. I rushed over and pulled her off, but Bella threw her elbow back, hitting me in the ribs. A groan tumbled out of me and Bella slipped out of my grip, throwing herself back in Tanya.

"You goddamn bitch," Bella hissed, bringing her arm back one last time. I grabbed her, dragging her back several feet.

Tanya scrambled to her feet, wiping the blood pouring from her nose on the back of her hand. "You stupid, little tramp. How dare you attack me?"

"You had her down," Bella snarled, fighting against me. "You should have stopped."

"If that little bitch can't take it, she shouldn't be in the ring," Tanya snapped.

The judges and referee came pushing through the crowd that had circled around us. Shifting their eyes from Tanya, who was still wiping the crimson blood from her nose, to Bella, who was still trying to break away from the grip I had on her arms. The judge closest to us, a tall, boney woman with black hair that had been pulled up into a sleek bun, stepped away from her partners, a scowl on her face.

"What is going on here?" she asked.

Tanya pointed at Bella. "She jumped on me and started to hit me."

The woman shifted her attention to Bella. "Is that true, Miss Cullen?"

"Yes," Bella replied, almost sounding proud. "She made a derogatory remark to the girl who was just taken out of her by ambulance, and . . ."

"And nothing," the judge said, interrupting Bella. "There is no excuse for your behavior." She turned and looked at her partners, who nodded their heads in agreement to her silent question. Sighing, she shifted her attention back to Bella. "I'm afraid we have no other choice but to disqualify you from the tournament."

"What?" Bella and Phil both yelled.

"You can't do that! She's earned her spot, just like everyone else," Phil snarled.

The woman laughed. "Then she should have thought of that before she attacked Miss Sanders. Now, I suggest you get ahold of your team before we forfeit all of your matches."

Phil clenched his mouth shut and reached out to grab Bella's arm. He pulled her away, ordering the rest of us to follow. Once we were back in our corner, he turned to her. The look in his eyes told me that he was beyond pissed off.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" he snarled.

"You heard what she said," Bella countered, folding her arms in front of her.

"Of course I did, but that doesn't excuse your behavior, Bella. You can't let your emotions cause you to be reckless. You're too smart for that shit."

Bella gritted her teeth together. "Fine," she bit out. "Next time I just won't give a shit when someone attacks a member of my team. It's better not to care."

Wrapping her arm out of his grip, she spun on her heel, grabbed her bag, and went up into the stands to wait for the rest of us to finish. I watched as she pulled her iPod out of her bag, popping the earbuds in her ears, and tucking her knees up in front of her.

"Edward, go get ready for your next match," Phil ordered, grabbing my shoulder. I shrugged his hand off of me. "Hey don't be pissed with me. It's not my fault."

"No, it's not," I said. "But you asked her to care and then you bite her head of when she does. Bella fights for those she feels deserve it—now that includes Tia. She was wrong for attacking that fucking bitch, but now, she's sitting up there, doubting everything she's feels."

I headed back over to my ring, trying to get my mind on my next match. It wouldn't be easy, not knowing that Bella was sitting up there trying to deal with what had happened. I couldn't blame Phil for being upset with her — she'd acted carelessly and reckless. This would either send her over the edge of self-doubt or it would help open her to the leadership position that we both knew we'd been thrust into. Ripping the tap off of my hands, I settled on the bench and began to redo them.

Phil didn't say anything as he came over and helped. Ten minutes later, I climbed into the ring to face Max. The moment the bell rang, I pounced on him. It only took me a round and half to take my furry out on him, punishing him both for defeating Liam and for Bella. He didn't deserve my wrath, but it didn't matter, not to me. Simply, he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Defeating Max was enough to put me into the finals. Two hours later, I once again found myself standing in the ring. I recognized my opponent from Alastair's team. The tall, sandy-haired fighter glared at me from the other side of the ring, but I didn't much care. I didn't know his name, and I honestly didn't care. He had nothing on me and I was pissed.

The referee called the two of us into the middle of ring, introducing him as Alec Norton. The smarmy look on his face told me everything I needed to know about him: he was just as much of a son of a bitch as that bitch Tanya. After reminding us to play nice, the referee sent us back into our corners, where we waited for our last match to start. I spared Bella a look, noticing that while she's hadn't moved from her position in the stands, she was watching. Right now, that was enough.

The bell rang, pulling my attention back to Alec. He was smarter than most, he came at me slowly, waiting to see what I'd do. However, I wasn't in the mood to play it slow. I wanted to be done with this tournament.

Going on the offensive, I maneuvered him into the corner and unleashed my anger on him. He didn't deserve it — not really, but someone had to take the brute force building up inside of me. I started with a series of left and right jabs to his head. Alec managed to get a couple of hits in, but overall, I demolished him. Shifting my feet, I threw a left roundhouse, followed by a right hook. Over and over my gloved fists came into contact with his body, pushing him further into the red, blue, and white ropes that wrapped around the ring.

The first round ended and I shuffled back into my corner, refusing the water that Phil offered. He muttered under his breath about me being a pain in the ass. It was true, but I didn't care at this point.

A shrill filled the air as the bell signaled the start of the second round. This time, Alec came right for me. However, I was ready for him. He managed to clip in the side, but I spun on my heel and hit him in the back, sending him flying into the ropes. A muffled groan slipped from around his mouthpiece. I didn't give him an inch, though. Instead, I kept attacking him. He slumped down further, his arms only coming up to protect himself from each blow.

The referee yanked me off of him, declaring the match over. Even though the gymnasium exploded in cheers for my victory, my entire focus was on Bella and trying to figure out how to fix this mess.


	16. Chapter 16

The weeks that followed our return to UCLA could only be described as miserable. Tia had been released from the hospital the morning after the tournament with a concussion and two cracked ribs. Her season was over and we all knew it. Benjamin hadn't dealt with everything very well, which I suppose I could understand. Watching his girlfriend being beaten while he could do nothing to help had turned him into a moody bastard, biting the head off of everyone but me and Bella. Not that he was talking to us — he wasn't — but he wasn't glaring at us, either. Maybe it was because Bella had hit that bitch Tanya for mouthing off about Tia, or perhaps it's just that we didn't push him to talk. Whatever the reason, he found solace in us and that's what we could offer.

Bella, on the other hand, was barely hanging on. She'd put herself on the line for Tia, fighting for someone other than herself or me, and it came back to bite her in the ass. For past few weeks, she'd been waking up in the middle of the night, trying her hardest to stifle her screams, but failing miserably. Not only that, but she had turned all her focus onto her training. I wasn't sure how to help her anymore, which is why I was happy that we were heading back to Forks for Thanksgiving. Both Bella and I needed the comfort of our families, even though neither of us wanted to admit that to ourselves.

"Baby, are you ready?" I asked, slipping my arms around Bella's waist. She zipped up her bag before covering my hands with hers. "We have a long drive ahead of us."

Sighing, Bella replied, "I am. Sorry it took me so long."

"Don't be sorry," I said, turning her to face me. "Just ready to have you to myself for a while."

"Oh, yeah?" she murmured, shifting her eyes up to mine. "Just what are your plans for me, Mr. Masen?"

"Well, Miss Cullen," I started, "I plan to do naughty things to your body, corrupt your soul, and make you never want to leave me."

"Already done all of that," she whispered. "My soul is yours, as is my body, and I will never want to leave you, even when you get tired of me."

"Baby, that will never happen," I insisted, though I could see the lingering doubt in her eyes. "Come on, let's get going."

Bella nodded and grabbed her bag. Scoffing, I pulled it out of her hand, making it clear she wasn't to argue with me. My momma taught me to be a gentleman and, damn it, I would be one. Though I could tell she thought I was being stupid, or whatever, but Bella deserved to be treated like this. Plus, Elizabeth would find out and when that happened, my ass would be toast. Yeah, I wasn't afraid to admit to being scared of my mother. Ed may have taught me how to throw a proper punch, but Elizabeth taught me how to fight dirty.

The parking lot was full of students packing up for the long weekend. A few cars down, Bella and I watched Benjamin helping Tia into his car. He was taking her home to meet his parents — officially. They were both nervous, but had agreed that it was time. Looking over at us, Benjamin waved before climbing in behind the wheel and taking off.

"Do you think they'll survive the weekend?" Bella asked, cocking her eyebrow at me.

I laughed. "Yes, but something tells me that Tia is in for another tough battle with Benjamin's mom."

"Probably," Bella murmured.

I could see the worry in her eyes. Tilting her head back, I leaned in and kissed her. "Baby, Tia's okay. She just needs some time to heal. I promise."

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled. "Just can't help but worry."

"It's just one of the reasons why I love you. Now, let's go. We have a lot of miles to get through today."

—LO—

Our goal was to make it through California by the nightfall. We'd find a small motel on the other side of the Oregon state line, maybe a burger at some diner, and just enjoy being together. And for the most part, that's what we did. Bella and I had our usual spat about who got to control the music. After a few heated rounds of rock/paper/scissors, Bella won. I won't say that she cheated, but I'll think it. She kept puckering her lips at me seductively, pushing her boobs toward me and making it very hard for me to focus on anything but her. So while I lost the right to control the music, I won the best part: Bella pressed against me.

The first few hours of our twenty-hour journey were almost perfect. Bella has settled on a new playlist that she'd been building on her iPod, having fallen in love with Ben Taylor's voice when she found one of his songs free on iTunes. He had a smooth, almost hypnotic voice, but it wasn't my style. I tended to prefer more gut-wrenching music.

It wasn't until we stopped for lunch in Stockton that things started to unravel a bit. Choosing a hamburger joint just off the interstate, Bella and I headed inside and found a booth. It was your run of the mill place: a couple dozen tables, tiled floors, and grease covering almost everything. Normally, neither of us would dare eat such crap, but there were days when you had to let go of your training and live a little.

The first three minutes were peaceful. And then _she_ came up to our table. Wearing a pair of shorts that were too tight and too short, a tank top that was too small and showed off the majority of her oversized breasts, our waitress placed two menus in front of us. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal, but seeing as she turned her back toward Bella and leaned toward me, pushing her boobs together and trying to be seductive, which she wasn't — at all.

"Hey, cutie, what can I getcha?" she purred, or tried to, but it didn't come out sounding smooth or silky at all. Instead, it came out sounding like a cat that'd gotten its tail stepped on.

"I'll take a coke," I said, trying to keep my eyes off her boobs. It was hard to do seeing as they were nearly falling out of her shirt. Clearing my throat, I looked over at Bella, wincing at the glare coming off of her. "Baby, what about you?" I asked, hoping it would calm her down.

It didn't.

"Hmm, where to start?" she snarked, folding her arms across her chest. "First, I'd like if this bitch backed the fuck away and gets her tits out of your mouth. Then, I'd like it if you'd go to hell."

Before I could say anything, Bella scurried out of the booth and ran out. Sighing, I motioned for the waitress to move, which she did quickly. Maybe it was the fact that Bella had called her a bitch, or pointed out that she was falling out of her clothes, but she moved. I walked out of the diner and looked around for Bella, seeing her walking in the wrong direction. Rolling my eyes, I climbed into my car and drove up to her, slowing down and lowering the window.

"Bella, get in the car," I said, calmly.

"Fuck off," she gritted.

Sighing, I repeated myself, "Bella, get in the car."

"Fuck off," she groused.

I pulled off the road, blocking her before she could get past me. Hurrying, I climbed out of the car and rushed around to her. I wasn't prepared when Bella threw her right fist into my jaw, sending me stumbling backward.

"Fuck, Bella!" I yelled.

"Why am I not good enough?" she screamed, launching herself on me. I managed to catch her before she could get more than a couple of hits in, but damn it they hurt like a son of a bitch. "Why? Just tell me why?"

"Baby, stop," I murmured, cradling her against me.

It took a couple of minutes, but she managed to calm down. We both knew that her reaction had nothing to do with the waitress — she hadn't been the first woman to shove her tits in my face. No, Bella's struggle was due to the combination of going home and the aftermath from the tournament. She needed her brothers, but Forks also mean having to deal with her parents. Even though Bella hadn't decided on whether or not she was going to go see them, just knowing they were there was enough to send her reeling.

"Why?" she sobbed. "I put myself on the line, yet it just comes back to bite me on the ass."

"I know, baby, I'm sorry," I said, soothingly.

Bella leaned back and looked up at me. "I hit you."

"You did," I admitted. "Pretty fucking hard, too."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I just reacted."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not!" Bella pulled herself out of my arms. "You make these excuses for my behavior, like that makes it all okay. It doesn't. I fucked up at the tournament, and it ended up costing me the championship. My fears and doubts have caused a rift between me and our team." Bella paused and shook her head. "What if I can't do it?"

"Do what?" I asked, causing her to look up at me.

"Win. What if I can't win?"

Smiling, I reached over and cupped her face. "Baby, you win just by being here. Every day that you don't crumble and fall is a day where you win. Nobody is expecting more than you can give us."

"That's not true and you know it," she grumbled. "I'm a Cullen; I'm expected to be the best."

"Who gives a fuck," I replied. "Are Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper putting pressure on you?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then who is? Because you haven't talked to your parents since we left Forks," I pointed out.

"It's not them, it's just . . ." Bella huffed. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've watched my family fight. First Car, then Em and Jas. Each time, I saw the pride on everyone's faces when they won. When I win, I see that in their faces, in yours. But what if I don't win? Will they still love me?"

"Of course they will," I scoffed. "Baby, when are you going to realize that no matter if you ever fight again, they would do anything for you? I mean, hell, Bella, Carlisle and Esme flew to LA last month because you had a bad dream. They love you, I love you, and that will never, ever change. Especially me. I will never stop loving you."

"Even when I hit you?" she asked, coyly.

"No, not even then." I laughed and kissed her again. "Now, let's get the fuck out of here before the cops show up and arrest us for disturbing the peace or something."

"Oh, shit, yeah good thinking."

Bella and I hurried and climbed back into the car, getting back onto the highway as fast as we could. We were lucky and managed to get through town without being pulled over. Stopping by a McDonalds, we grabbed a couple of burgers, some fries, and sodas and started back on our trip home. Who knew what Forks would bring us?


	17. Chapter 17

Just after eight the next morning, we rolled past the 'Welcome to Forks' sign. For the most part, our drive had been peaceful. We'd stopped a few more times, mostly for coffee and bathroom breaks since we'd decided to drive straight through the night instead of stopping. Though she put on a brave face, Bella was struggling to keep herself together. She admitted she cared about Tia, and that wasn't something she did easily. I knew from firsthand experience.

I parked behind the gym and turned my car off, but neither of us made any effort to climb out. Turning in my seat, I looked over at Bella. She had her head leaning against the head rest and her eyes were closed, but I could tell she wasn't asleep. Bella was trying to pull on her mask so that she could try to convince her brothers that everything was great, even if it wasn't.

Reaching over, I took her hand in mine. Bella smiled and looked over at me. "Are you ready to see them?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I've missed them."

"I missed them, too, but they don't have to know that, okay? The last thing I need is for your brothers to start calling me a pussy again."

Bella laughed. "Yeah, okay."

I leaned across the seats, pressing my lips against hers. "I love you."

She smiled against my lips. "I love you, too."

Unable to put it off any longer, Bella and I climbed out of the car, grabbed our bags from the backseat, and headed upstairs to her brothers' apartment. I could tell she was both excited and nervous to be back. Forks had been her hell as well as her salvation. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked inside. Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice were sitting at the kitchen table, pretending to be focused on their breakfast. It was enough to almost make me laugh. We all knew they'd been watching and waiting for us to arrive.

"Bella!" Emmett roared, scooping his baby sister into his arms and swinging her around. Bella's carefree laughter filled the air. Setting her back on her feet, he left his hands on her shoulders and grinned. "You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks, Em," Bella scoffed, rolling her eyes. She reached over and patted his stomach. "Have you gained weight? You're looking a little thick in the middle, don't you think?"

"Pure muscle, sis, pure muscle," Emmett boasted.

"Sure it is." Though, Bella's condescending tone made it clear that she didn't believe him. Neither did I, but I wasn't going to say anything. I wasn't stupid after all. Before Bella could say anything else, Jasper had her in his arms. Their reunion was quieter, softer than Emmett's. "Missed you, Jas."

"Missed you, too, Bell," he murmured. "You look good. Tired, but good."

"Yeah, it was a long drive." Bella dropped her eyes to the floor, causing Jasper to shift his attention over his shoulder at me. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew it wasn't just the drive that had had been warring on her. Trying to keep herself together had put an emotional strain on her and she needed a break. I just hoped that our trip home would give her one.

"Yeah, sounds like it," he replied.

An awkward silence filled the room. Rose and Alice were standing behind Emmett and Jasper, giving them the chance to reconnect before they did anything. Bella pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and looked around.

"Rose, Alice, how's everything?" Bella asked in an effort to end the quiet.

"Good," they murmured together. We all laughed.

"It's good," Rose said, smiling.

"Works has been a bitch lately. The holidays make everything crazy," Alice added. "But enough about us. Tell us everything about UCLA."

"Oh, um," Bella started, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Can it wait?" I asked. "We drove straight through and we're really tired. I think we'd like to get some sleep."

Before letting them respond, Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her bedroom. She opened the door and gasped, following quickly by a menacing growl. Spinning on her heel, Bella glared at Emmett and Jasper. "What the fuck happened to my room?"

What used to be Bella's bedroom looked to be some sort of wedding cave. Every inch of wall space was covered by photos of wedding dresses, floral arraignments, and cakes. Different colored fabrics were draped over every available surface, and boxes of napkins, dishes, and who in the hell knew what else covered the floor and bed.

"I told her not to do it," Emmett blurted, tilting his head toward Alice.

"Shut the fuck up, you big ass," Alice scoffed, hitting in the back of the head before turning back to Bella. "I needed somewhere to work. Carlisle and Esme's wedding is in a month and—"

"And you thought my room would work since I don't live here anymore," Bella said, interrupting her. "It's just wasted space, right?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was empty and . . ." Alice trailed off when Bella brought her hands up to her mouth and closed her eyes. "Bella, I'm sorry. I'll move it out right now."

"Don't bother," Bella grumbled. "Guess there really isn't any such thing as coming home."

"Bell—" But before Jasper could get her name out, Bella grabbed my hand and dragged me toward Carlisle's room.

"It doesn't matter, Jas. It was stupid of me to think that everything would be the same. I'm tired, so we'll nap in Car's room."

"Okay," Jasper said, sighing. "We're sorry."

"Yeah, I know," Bella replied, pulling on my hand.

I followed Bella into Carlisle's bedroom, climbing on the bed next to her. Yawning, Bella laid her head on my chest. A moment later, though, she began to laugh. Leaning up on her elbow, she smiled. "They've had sex on this bed, you know? My brother and your sister; they've had sex on this bed."

"Eww, Bella!" I grimaced. "That's disgusting."

"Sorry, but it's true," she snickered.

"I don't know that I can sleep here," I muttered.

"Well, it's either here, or it's Em or Jas's beds. Which do you prefer?" Bella cocked an eyebrow in my direction.

"Um, here," I said, immediately.

"I thought so." Bella sighed and rested her head on my chest. "Am I wrong for being hurt that Alice took over my room?"

"No," I whispered. "But you know she didn't do it to hurt you. She just didn't think about how you'd feel."

"I know. It's just; I always thought that I'd have some place safe when I came home. It's silly, I know."

"No, it's not." Rolling on my side, I brought my hand up to her cheek. "Baby, you're always safe here with them, just like you are when you are with me."

"I know." Bella yawned, nestling herself further into my arms. "You're the only person I feel truly safe with anymore, Edward. Just you."

I smiled and held her tighter as we drifted to sleep in each other's arms.

—LO—

When I awoke up several hours later, I found myself alone. Climbing out of bed, I knew exactly where to find Bella. I headed down to the gym, knowing that Bella would need to work out after spending all day in the car yesterday; she'd need to stretch her muscles and work out her aggravations. Just like I expected, Bella was in the ring with Carlisle.

"I was starting to think you were going to sleep all day." Laughing, I looked over at Esme. She was leaning against the doorway to Carlisle's office with a smirk on her lips. "You look like shit, little brother."

"You look beautiful," I replied. Esme smiled, walked over to me, and hugged me. "Missed you, Es."

"Yeah, I missed you, too," she said. Pulling back, she sighed happily. "How was your drive up?"

"It was . . . okay," I murmured, shifting my eyes over her shoulder at Bella. "Long, but okay."

"Just okay?" she asked. Esme and I sat down on a couple of chairs.

"Yeah, just okay." I shrugged my shoulders. "We both needed to come home, ya know?"

Esme took a deep breath. "Is she still having nightmares?"

"Sometimes," I admitted. "She's okay, though. I mean, she's trying."

"I know she is," Esme said, quickly. "And how are you?"

Smiling, I looked over at her. "I'm good."

"You know, I almost believe you." Esme laughed. "Have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?"

"A couple days ago. Mom spent the entire time quizzing me over every moment between then and the last time I called her."

"Yeah, she does that to me, too." Sighing, Esme shook her head. "She calls every day with suggestions for the wedding. Between her and Alice, I'm about ready to elope."

"Um yeah, she'll kill you," I snickered.

"Oh, I know," Esme giggled. "I know she just wants me to have an amazing wedding, but all I want is to have my family and friends together and marry Carlisle. That's enough for me."

"And you'll get that," I said. "But you'll have to squeeze yourself into a wedding dress, deal with flowers and music, as well as being a blushing bride."

"I know," Esme exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "And I'll do it for Mom, because it's important to her."

"Better you than me," I teased.

"Oh, you're day will come. If you think she's bad with me, wait till it's you and Bella. She'll go wild."

"Well, it won't be happening anytime soon," I muttered, shifting my attention to Bella.

"Yeah, you say that now." Esme headed back into the office, leaving me sitting there and watching Bella and Carlisle.

He was taunting her, egging her on by calling a little whiner baby and telling her how weak she was. To anyone else, it would seem like Carlisle was being mean, but I knew them better. Bella thrived on the way he challenged her, pushing her to ignore the snarkiness and focus on her workout. Sweeping Carlisle off of his feet, Bella pinned him to the mats, causing him to tap out. She cheered as she climbed out of the ring and sat on my lap.

"Hey, how long have you been here?" she asked.

"Not long," I replied. "How was your workout?"

"It was good." She smiled. "Carlisle taunted me about us sleeping in his bed the entire time. I think we should stay at Esme's tonight."

"Yeah?" I asked. "Figured you'd want to be closer to your brothers. You've missed them."

"I have, and Carlisle will be there. He and Esme are practically living together," she explained. A dark shadow slipped over her face. "I — I don't want Em and Jas to worry if I have a nightmare."

"They won't judge you. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course, I do, but —"

Before Bella could finish speaking the door to the gym opened. We look back and groaned. Charlie and Renee were here.


	18. Chapter 18

Bella scrambled off of my lap and shuffled backward. Sighing, I stood up, holding my hand out to her. "Come on, baby; let's get the fuck out of here."

Nodding, Bella slid her hand into mine, allowing me to pull her into my arms. Giving Carlisle and Esme a look, I turned and lead Bella toward the back doors.

"Bella!" Renee called. Bella stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I missed you."

"I — I can't do this right now," Bella muttered, shaking her head. "Sorry."

Tightening my arm around her, I led Bella outside. While I had intended on leading her over to my car, Bella smiled and pulled herself out of my arms, running over to their garage and opening the door. When I caught up with her, she was straddling her motorcycle with her eyes closed.

"That's sexy," I laughed, leaning against the doorjamb.

Bella opened her eyes and smirked. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah." I nodded and pushed off the frame, walking over to her. Sliding my leg over the seat, I climbed on behind her, grabbing her waist. "How about we go for a ride?"

"I know just where to go."

Bella climbed off the bike long enough to grab us each a helmet and the keys before climbing back in front of me. Grabbing my arms, Bella pulled them tight around her waist, started her bike, and eased out of the garage. From the front window of the gym, I saw Renee watching us. Bella needed to sit down and talk to her, but she wasn't ready for that today.

Bella drove us out of Forks and down to La Push, straight to First Beach. Parking her bike first, we climbed off and headed down to the sand. Bella plopped down, lying back so I did the same. For several minutes, we just laid there, feeling the cool mist sprinkling down on us. While we loved Los Angeles, I knew we'd both missed Forks.

"I have to talk to her, don't I?" Bella asked, sighing.

I looked over at her. "Yeah, I think you do."

Shaking her head, Bella muttered, "How do I talk to her without beating her ass? I'm still so angry at her and Charlie, my parents. I know I put on a good mask and pretend that everything's good, Edward, but it's not."

I rolled onto my side, sliding my hand across her belly and curving my fingers around her hip. "You can't keep all of this inside anymore," I murmured. "It's killing you and I can't stop it, no matter how hard I try."

Bella frowned and lobbed her head toward me. "I need you."

"And I need you, but, baby, I'm not enough. For too long you've let your anger at your sister and the asshat affect how you handle the smallest things. It's not healthy."

Bella sighed and sat up, bending her knees in front of her. "I was standing there, watching that bitch beat on Tia and all I could think was about how nobody was able to help her." She shifted her eyes to me. "It felt like I was locked away again, listening as those men nearly killed my parents. That bitch had beaten Tia; there wasn't any reason for her to badmouth her like that."

"No, there wasn't, and you taught her that lesson," I whispered.

"Yeah, but at what cost?" Bella asked. "It cost me the tournament."

"It's just one, there will be more," I said.

"No, I know that, but my name will always cause people to watch me closer, to scrutinize every step I take. I hate being a Cullen."

"No, you don't." I smiled.

Bella sighed. "No, I don't, but I hate that people judge me based on what they did."

"But they're going to. Whether we like it or not, Phil brought us to UCLA because you're a Cullen and people watch you because you're a Cullen. We can't change it, but we sure as hell can make sure they remember you for other reasons, too."

"Like beating that bitches ass?" Bella asked, smiling.

"Like making sure that skanky bitch never thinks about crossing you again, baby," I snickered, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her into my lap. Bella brought her hands up, weaving her fingers in my hair. "You know I am never leaving you, don't you, baby?"

"I do," she whispered, leaning in and brushing her lips across mine. Wrapping my arms around her, I placed on hand on her ass and the other one nestled in her hair. Deeping the kiss, I thrust my tongue between her lips. Gasping for air, Bella tore her mouth away from mine. "Fuck, baby."

"Oh, I want to fuck you," I groaned, pressing my hard cock into her. "But not here."

"Take me home," she whispered.

Scrambling to our feet, I kept Bella's hand wrapped in mine and we took off running up to beach toward where her bike was parked. However, we slid to a stop at the edge of the beach. Leaning against Bella's motorcycle was Jacob Black.

"Oh, fuck, I do not need to deal with that jackass, too," Bella grumbled under her breath. But before I could respond to her, Jacob turned and saw us. He leaned away from her bike, shoving his hands into his back pocket. "Son of a bitch."

"Let's just ignore him," I muttered, placing my hand on the small of her back.

"Like it's that easy," Bella mumbled, but allowed me to lead her back over to her bike.

"Hey, kiddo," Jacob said, clearing his throat as we approached. "How's it going?"

Bella reached out for her helmet, but Jacob snatched it out of her grasp. Growling, Bella shifted her eyes up to his, glaring the ever loving fuck out of him. "Give it back."

"No, not until you talk to me," Jacob said, pulling it behind his back. I almost laughed and asked him what grade he was in, seeing as he was acting like a fucking toddler, but I didn't, seeing as Bella was about ready to launch herself over her bike and pummel him into the ground.

"Dude, I'd give it to her if I was you," I advised him.

"Look, I just want to talk," Jacob snapped. The minute he used that tone with her, I knew Bella was going to lose it. Before I could stop her, she leapt over her bike and onto him. Jacob hadn't been prepared for her to jump him and Bella was able to take him to the ground, landing where she was straddling his chest. Bringing her right arm back, she threw her fist into his face, hitting him in the jaw. "Fuck, Bella!"

"You fucking asshole," Bella seethed, landing three more blows before Jacob pushed her off and scrambled away.

"Jesus, Cullen, I just want to talk." Jacob turned and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I don't want to talk to you. You betrayed my trust; you tricked me into giving a fuck about you and Nessie!" Bella seethed. "Why should I give a fuck about what you want?"

Jacob sighed, placing his hand on his hip. "I never meant to hurt you, Bella. I had a job to do and I was trying to do it, but . . ."

"But you couldn't because you started caring, blah, blah, blah," Bella muttered. "Tell me something I haven't heard."

"You were always such a stubborn little bitch," Jacob groused.

I snapped my head over to him. "I know you did not just call my girl a bitch."

"I — I did," Jacob stammered and took a step back. "But I'm sorry. I just need to talk to her, to both of you."

Laughing, I ran a hand along the back of my neck. "I don't know how else to make you understand, Jacob. Bella does not want to talk to you, to look at you, to fucking have your guilt weighing down on her shoulders. She has enough without adding yours," I explained, trying very hard to keep my tone calm and even. "And I don't give a fuck what you want from me, so give my girl her helmet back before I let her beat you to death. Honestly, I think she can do it."

Jacob closed his eyes and huffed, before holding the helmet out to her. Bella pulled it out of his hands, putting it on, and climbing on her bike. Grabbing mine, I turned and got on behind her, looking over at Jacob. "Do us favor, Jacob, pass this message along to everyone who wants to make nice with us. We're not interested in anything you or the Omega Sector has to say."

"In other words," Bella said, lifting her arm and flipping him the middle finger, "y'all can go to Hell with the rest of the bastards."

Starting her bike, Bella spun around in the parking lot and out onto the highway, barely giving me a chance to wrap my arms around her waist. I could feel her trembling, causing me to hold onto her tighter. A few minutes later, Bella pulled her bike up in front of Esme's apartment building. I climbed off first, offering her my hand, which she took without hesitation. Slowly, the two of us made our way up to the apartment. I dug my keys out, unlocking the front door and motioning for Bella to go in first.

Neither Carlisle nor Esme were here so we went straight into my bedroom. I closed the door behind me and waited for Bella to make the first move. Sitting on the edge of my bed, she leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders began to shake as she cried. Moving over, I sat down next to her, nestling her against my chest. Bella tried to act like she didn't care, but Jacob and Nessie's betrayal cut her deep.

"I hate that son of a bitch," she muttered. "Why? Why'd he come to me now? It's been months, Edward."

"I don't know," I whispered. "But hopefully he got the message and will stay the fuck away."

Bella scoffed. "Yeah, somehow, baby, I don't think we'll ever be that lucky."

"Hey, I won't let them get to you again," I vowed, causing Bella to smile.

"I love you," she whispered, sliding her hand to the back of my head and weaving her fingers in my hair. "Now, I believe you mentioned something about fucking me."

I growled and pushed her back on my bed, moving so that I was hovering over her. Crushing my lips against hers, I dropped my hand down to her thigh, pulling her leg up and over my hip. Bella moaned, sliding her tongue into my mouth. She was driving me insane with the sounds she was making. Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, I tore my mouth from hers just long enough to remove it and toss it over my shoulder.

Taking hold of her bra straps, I pulled them down her arms, freeing her breasts from the soft, white cups encasing them. I pulled my lips from hers and leaned down, sucking one of her nipples into my mouth.

"Oh fuck!" Bella screamed just seconds before we heard my bedroom door get thrown open. Releasing her hardened peak from between my lips, we both turned and gasped when we saw Esme and Carlisle standing in the doorway to my room. Right behind them were Emmett and Jasper.

"Oh, shit," I muttered, placing my hands over her boobs in an effort to cover her. However, based on the way Emmett and Jasper were trying to break through Carlisle and Esme, I'd made the wrong move by touching her.

"Get out!" Bella screamed, scrambling out from under me and onto the floor, trying to keep herself covered.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, boy," Emmett growled, trying to push Carlisle away.

However, Carlisle seemed to have the upper hand. He managed to grab the door handle and say, "Get dressed, then get your asses out here," before shutting the door.

Sitting back on my bed, I sighed and looked down at Bella, who looked mortified. "Baby."

"Edward, I can never take my shirt off inside of this apartment again," she groused. "First your dad caught you with your mouth on my tit, and now my brothers and your sister. This apartment is cursed for me."

I tried not to smile — I really did — but she was so cute when rambling. "Edward, this isn't funny," she exclaimed, though I saw the corners of her mouth twitching. "Fuck, did you see their faces? Em and Jas looked like they were going to throw up, while trying to decide if they were rip your nuts off."

"Hey, no talking about the boys getting ripped off," I snarked.

Bella laughed. "Looks who's afraid."

"You'd be afraid, too, if Esme was threatening to cut your tits off or something," I mumbled.

"I would," Bella admitted, crawling onto the bed next to me, pressing her half naked body against me. "Should we go out there? Or —"

However, before Bella could finish speaking, Emmett banged on my bedroom door. "Get your asses out here!" he roared. "NOW!"

"Or, I think we'd better get out there." Bella sighed and stood up, fixing her bra and looking for her shirt. "Nice aim, baby."

When I looked back, I saw it hanging off the doorknob to my closet. "Ha, it's a gift."

"Yeah, yeah; whatever," Bella scoffed, slipping it on. Taking a deep breath, she offered me her hand. "You ready?"

"Um, hell no, I ain't ready, but let's get this shit done before Emmett breaks my door or some shit."

Bella laughed, but I could hear the nerves lacing each sound. Tightening my grip on her hand, I led her over to the door, opening it and stepping out. I'd barely taken a step when Emmett was in my face, grabbing the front of my shirt and pulling me away from Bella.

"Leave him alone!" she screamed, taking a step toward him but before she could, Jasper wrapped his arms around her, pulling her away. "Let me go, you stupid motherfucker!"

Emmett slammed me against the wall, releasing one of the hands he had curled up around my shirt. He tried to hit me, but I was quicker and smart enough to know to duck, causing Emmett to hit the wall. Emmett wasn't prepared for that and the movement caused him to lose his grip on my shirt completely. However, I only managed a couple of steps before he tackled me to the ground, pinning my arms to the floor with his knees.

"You think you can just touch her?" he bellowed, hitting me in the jaw. I won't lie and say that it didn't hurt, Emmett had iron fists, but I didn't cry out. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing it.

"Em, that's enough," Carlisle ordered, grabbing his shoulder and trying to pull the man off of me.

Emmett, however, shrugged Carlisle off and hit me again, this one strike my left eye. "She's my sister, you fucker. You don't have the right to touch her!"

"Em, stop!" Bella cried. Snapping his head toward her, Emmett stopped the next hit just centimeters from my nose. "Don't fucking hurt him. I love him!"

Emmett yelled, but scrambled off of me, past Carlisle and Esme, and out of the apartment. Bella threw a hard elbow into Jasper's gut, causing him to groan and release her. In a heartbeat, she was kneeling down next to me, pulling me into her lap.

"I could kill that fucker," she whimpered, trying to wipe away the blood oozing from a cut above my eye. "It looks kind of deep."

"I'm fine," I muttered, shuffling to my feet and grabbing Bella's hand. Glaring at Jasper, who was still gripping his ribs, I pulled her back into my bedroom. "Nice to know that you assholes still don't think I'm good enough for her. Too bad I don't give a fuck what you think."

Slamming the door shut behind me, I pushed Bella onto the bed before I stripped off my shirt and held it up against my head. Climbing on next to her, I laid my head on her chest and tried to pretend that after a year of being with Bella, her brothers still couldn't see how much I loved her.


	19. Chapter 19

"Edward, Edward, come back." The sound of Bella's pleas woke me up the next morning. She was lying on the bed next to me, curled up in a little ball and there were tears seeping from the corners of her eyes.

Rolling onto my side, I winced. My body ached from Emmett slamming me against the wall and then tackling me onto the floor. Wrapping my arm around Bella, I nestled her against my body and whispered, "I'm right here."

"Don't leave me," she mumbled in her sleep. "Please, don't leave me."

"I'm never leaving you," I promised. "Never, baby."

Bella whimpered, but pressed herself further into my embrace. I held her, knowing that the way her brothers reacted to catching the two of us the day before had set her off. She and I had spent the rest of the night locked away in my room, ignoring Carlisle and Esme when they knocked on the door to check up on us. At least they seemed to care about me, though it would have been nice if Carlisle had stopped Emmett from trying to cave my face in. After a year of holding Bella together, of being there for her during every nightmare, you'd think both Emmett and Jasper could see that Bella was my everything. But apparently, I was wrong to think of them as family.

"Edward!" Bella cried, scrambling out of bed and looking around. Her eyes fell onto mine and her face scrunched up in pain.

"Baby, come here," I said, reaching out of her. Bella nearly fell into my arms, wrapping her body around mine.

"I'm so sorry, Edward," she cried. "I hate them!"

"No, you don't," I murmured, causing Bella to look up at me. "You don't hate your brothers. You're pissed off and hurt that they would do this, but you don't hate them."

"I want to hate them," she groused. While she might have been talking about Emmett and Jasper, deep down Bella was referring to all the people in her life that had hurt her: her parents, Renee, Charlie, and Jacob.

"Let's go run," I suggested, hoping to distract her. "And then, if you're nice to me, I'll buy you a donut."

"A donut?" she scoffed. "We're supposed to be in training. Donuts and training don't really go together."

"Fine. Then you don't have to eat a warm, delicious cherry-frosted donut with sprinkles." Smirking, I slid out of bed and placed my hands on my hips. "Not like I am gonna force you to eat it or anything."

Bella climbed out of bed and slipped her arms around my waist. Leaning up on her toes, she brushed her lips across mine. "Baby, if you touch my donut, I'm gonna have to cut you."

"Hmm, somehow I believe you," I laughed. "Now, let's go run."

"Okay," she murmured.

Bella slipped on her shoes while I searched through the clothes I'd left behind in Forks for a clean shirt to wear. However, all of the ones I'd left behind were too formal for running so I had no other choice but to put the bloody shirt from the day before back on. Bella sighed when she saw it but didn't say anything else. At some point today, we'd have to head over to the gym and grab our luggage, but for now, we'd just have to deal.

When we walked out of my room, we found Carlisle and Esme sitting on the couch, arms wrapped around each other. I wanted to puke, they were so happy together. They turned and looked at us as we came out, Esme's mouth falling open by the bruising on my jaw and forehead. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know that Emmett had left his mark on my face.

"I'll beat that son of a bitch's ass," Esme hissed, standing up and coming over to me. She pressed down on the bruise on my jaw. "Does it hurt?"

"Fuck yes," I snarled, pulling away from her. "Why the hell would you touch it, Es?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Seemed like a good idea."

"Well, it's not," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Edward, I'm sorry," Carlisle said, sliding his arm around Esme. "I should have stopped him, but I didn't think he'd jump you like that."

"Don't worry about it," I lied — lying because we both know that he enjoyed watching Emmett get the first hit in. "We're gonna go run now."

"Yeah, got to get some of these frustrations out," Bella gritted, glaring at Carlisle.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, okay."

Bella slipped her hand into mine and pulled me toward the door. We headed down the back steps and took a minute to stretch before we took off running through town. Normally, we'd run with our iPods, both of us losing ourselves in whatever music fit our moods. But today, with the dull, throbbing pain radiating from my jaw and forehead, maybe it was better that I didn't have any music to fit my mood.

Once reached the edge of town, Bella and I turned and headed back toward Esme's apartment. The entire time we were running, I watched Bella from the corner of my eye. Her fists were clenched tight, as was her jaw. Every once in a while she'd snarl or hiss under breath, calling someone a jackass or a bastard. I didn't need to be a mind-reader to know that she was replaying how much her brothers had hurt her. It wasn't about them hitting me. No, they didn't trust her to know what or who she needed.

Grabbing her arm, I pulled her to a stop and gestured to the small Donut shop in the middle of town. Smiling, Bella brushed her hair out of her face and ran inside. A few minutes later, we were seated at a small table in the back of the shop with a couple of cherry donuts with sprinkles and two hot chocolates.

"We may have to run three more miles after eating these," Bella snickered, licking the icing off of her fingers.

"It's worth it," I laughed, taking a bite out of my second donut.

The sound of the door opening caused me to look over. I groaned when I saw Mike Newton, Lauren Mallory, Jessica Stanley, Tyler Crowley, and Eric Yorke come in. All five of them looked like shit. Lauren and Jessica had gained a bit of weight in the five months since graduation, yet based on the short skirts and skimpy tops, they didn't seem to notice. Mike, Tyler, and Eric looked like they'd spent one too many nights with a keg of beer.

"Don't look now, but your favorite stepford bitches just came in," I muttered under my breath.

"Fucking great," Bella groused, looking over her shoulder at them. Jessica Stanley was the first one to see us sitting in the back corner. With a smirk, she laughed and pointed us out to the others. As they started making their way over to us, Bella groaned. "I so do not want to deal with them right now."

"Me either, but looks like we're going to have to." I leaned back in my chair as they approached us. "Do yourselves a favor and walk away."

"Aw, Eddie," Lauren snickered. "That is no way to treat old friends."

"You were never his friend, Mallory," Bella snarled. "Looks like you gained the freshman fifteen already."

Lauren scowled and tried to pull her shirt away from her body, though it was so tight that it didn't budge much. "I saw your Mother down at the market, Cullen. She looked like she'd just been fucked against the side of the building. Guess that's how all you whores behave, isn't it?"

In a heartbeat, Bella was out of her seat and had Laura pinned down on the table next to us. Jessica screamed while Mike, Tyler, and Eric just stood there, unsure of what they should say or do. The girl working behind the counter picked up the phone, but I shook my head, stopping her.

"Bella, let her go," I said, placing my hand on Bella's shoulder. "Come on, the bitch isn't worth it."

Bella released Lauren and allowed me to pull her back, but when she spoke, the underlining threat in her words were clear. "I'm not doing this shit with you anymore, Mallory. Leave me and mine alone, or I will make sure you know what real suffering is like."

"I'm not scared of you, Cullen," Lauren replied, though her words were shaky at best. "You're a nobody — a goddamn nobody."

"Maybe I am," Bella admitted. "But I'm still better than you."

Tearing herself out of my grip, Bella brushed past Jessica and Eric and walked out of the donut shop. Picking up our trash, I tossed it into the can and followed her out. I wanted to let Bella beat that bitch's ass, to teach her once again about opening her fucking mouth and spouting off about shit she had no clue about, but I couldn't. Bella would get into trouble and Lauren wasn't worth throwing her future down the drain.

Sliding my arm around Bella's waist, I held her close as we walked back to Esme's apartment. However, instead of going up, Bella threw her leg over her motorcycle and looked over her shoulder at me. I climbed on behind her and placed her helmet on her head before grabbing mine. Bella started her bike and drove us straight to the gym. I wasn't surprised. She needed to get her anger out and she wouldn't take it out on me—not when Emmett and Jasper had already pissed her off.

When we walked inside, we found Carlisle working out against one of the speed bags while Emmett and Jasper were in the ring, sparring. At the sound of the door closing behind us, all three of them stopped and looked over at us, their eyes traveling down to the bloodstains on my shirt.

"Leaving here," Bella started, the words trickling out with a tremor, "was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. Not because I like Forks, but because I missed my brothers. You held me together through so much and I will always be grateful for that, but I need him," Bella cried, bringing her hand up to her chest. "Edward held me every night while I screamed and cried. He held me when I started having the nightmares again."

I moved so that I was standing behind Bella, slipping my arms around her waist. Emmett and Jasper had pulled off their headgear and were leaning against the ropes, looks of anguish on their faces. Carlisle had one hand on the speed bag and one on his hip, while Esme, Rose, and Alice had come out of Carlisle's office and were listening to every word Bella said.

"I lost control during our last tournament. There was a girl on one of the other teams, and she nearly beat one of our teammates to death. Then this bitch had the nerve to call Tia a bitch. I fucking lost it. I jumped her ass, taking her to the ground." Bella paused and shook her head. "I wanted to kill her, to teach her that nobody messes with mine. I—it felt like being trapped inside that room again," Bella wept. "I could hear Mom and Dad . . ."

"Bell," Carlisle mumbled.

"Edward pulled me off of her before I really hurt her. The judges made an example of me and disqualified me from the tournament. All I could think about was how disappointed you'd be in me for letting my emotions get the best of me. Edward kept telling me that it was going to be okay, that one moment of weakness wasn't going to define me, but . . . and then Renee and Charlie showed up yesterday, and Jacob Black cornered us at First Beach. I felt like everyone was pulling me to give them something." Bella wiped the tears off her face. "Edward held me, he loved me, and he made me feel like I wasn't some damaged little bitch. Just when I found myself starting to relax, you tried to rip him away from me. All Edward's ever done is make me feel like I matter, and you can't handle that. I don't understand why? Why can't you let me be happy?"

"It's not that we don't want you to be happy," Jasper insisted. Bella scoffed. "No, Bell, it's not. It's just . . ."

"What? What is it, Jas?" Bella pleaded. "What is it that makes you hate him?"

"I don't hate him," Jasper exclaimed, throwing his hands in the hair. "We tried to make you okay, to help you, and it never worked. Then he comes into your life and suddenly, you don't need us. You have him and we've just been tossed to the side."

"That's not true," Bella insisted.

"Yeah, it is," Emmett groused, darkly. "We were there for two fucking years, Bell. Two fucking years!"

"I know," Bella murmured. "You gave up so much for me, and I will always owe you for that."

"You don't owe us anything," Carlisle said. "But you have to understand just how hard is it for us to let you go, even when it's to someone like Edward."

"Let me go?" Bella asked. "You don't have to let me go, but you do have to trust that I'm capable of making my own decisions. I love Edward and he loves me. If we want to have sex, we will." Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle cringed. "See, that's what I'm talking about! All three of you sleep with your girlfriends, but you tell me that it's not okay for me to sleep with my boyfriend? The boy I've been in love with for over a year? The boy who kept me from falling apart and letting my anger get the better of me?" Bella wrapped her arms around herself. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd let me down like this."

Pulling herself out of my embrace, Bella turned and headed upstairs to their apartment. I ran my hand through my hair and turned to follow, but stopped when I heard Emmett call out my name. Looking over my shoulder at him, I felt my body tense.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Yeah?" I asked. Emmett nodded. "Doesn't really help. Over and over I've proved myself to you, all of you, but in the end, I . . ." I shook my head and took a deep breath. "I guess it was stupid to think I was a part of your family."

"Edward," Esme murmured, stepping toward me, but when I shook my head, she stopped.

"Don't worry about it, Esme," I muttered. "I don't need them anyway; I've got Bella."

Turning, I walked out of the gym and up to their apartment. Bella was pulling our suitcases out of Carlisle's room when I walked in. Going over to her, I slipped them out of her hands and kissed her before leading her down the backstairs and out to my car. We drove back to Esme's apartment and went straight to my room, closing and locking the door behind us.

"Shower with me?" Bella asked, coyly.

"Of course," I replied, tilting her head back and searching her eyes. Once again, they were filled with fear and pain. As much as I wanted to make it better, I knew this was one battle I couldn't fight for her. Bella's brothers had hurt her. "I love you."

Bella tried to smile. "I love you, too."

Kissing her softly, I slipped my hands into hers and lead her into my bathroom. As we stepped under the fervid water, Bella crumbled into my arms and cried.


	20. Chapter 20

Early Thanksgiving morning, Bella and I slipped out of Esme's apartment as quietly as we could. Bella hadn't been able to sleep peacefully, every time she drifted off, she'd writhe around from the nightmares that plaque her. She refused to tell me what they were about, but then again, I knew better than to push her, either. I had a feeling she was trying to protect me from her brothers, Aro and his goons, all the ghosts that always haunted her.

The air was cold and frosty as we made our way down the back steps. We stretched first, knowing that risking an injury right now would end our place on the team at school. Right now, that our place at UCLA was the only part of our lives that made sense.

"You ready?" Bella asked, popping her earbuds in and scrolling through her music on her iPod.

"Yep," I replied, doing the same. I settled on some Motley Crue and stowed my iPod in my pocket. Bella took off through town and I followed. I'll admit that I watched her ass as she ran, but Bella had a fantastic ass.

Instead of running through town like we normally did, Bella turned left on one of the side roads and led us through the back roads of Forks. Not that there were really many roads of Forks. Watching her while we ran, I noticed that her hands were in tight fists again, and her jaw was tight. Though her eyes were wide open, I could see the fear and doubt filling them. In one swift move, her brothers had thrown her back into a sea of anger and fear. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to forgive them for this, not after spending the last year trying to save Bella from herself.

As we came upon the only park in Forks, Bella slowed down to a walk and went over to the swings, sitting down in one of them. She leaned her head against the chain.

"When Carlisle left for school, I was so upset," Bella said, thickly. "I was only ten years old and thought he was the smartest guy in the world. Him leaving hurt, Edward; it hurt bad. The morning he left, Em and Jas took me to the park by our house in Arizona. They took turns pushing me on the swings, chasing me down the slides, and acting like a couple of goofs. They did everything they could to make the ache in my heart go away, but it didn't work. I still missed Carlisle."

"Of course you did," I murmured, sitting in the swing next to her.

Bella looked up at me with tears swimming in her eyes. "They hurt you."

"Hey, I'm fine," I said, smiling. "A few bruises, that's all."

"That's not all," she cried. "They don't trust you, they don't trust me. How can they not trust me after everything I've been through?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I wish I did."

Bella dropped her attention to the ground. "Maybe they're right. Maybe I pushed them away too many times."

"Hey, you've done nothing wrong, baby," I exclaimed, sliding off of my swing and kneeling in front of her. Placing my hand under her chin, I tilted Bella's head back, frowning at the stream of tears sliding down her face. "Falling in love with me, letting me make you feel good, is not wrong. I'm sorry that your brothers can't accept that I love you, that I need you. That is their problem. U — unless, you're saying that you don't want me anymore." Just saying the words caused my heart to ache.

"Of course I want you," she wept, fisting the front of my shirt. "I can't live without you, Edward. Please don't leave me!"

"I'm not leaving you," I whispered, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her down into my lap. Bella wrapped her arms and legs around me, burying her face in the crook of my neck. "I love you, baby. Sooner or later, they're gonna have to accept it."

"If they don't?" she asked.

"Then, I don't know," I admitted. "I don't have all the answers."

"You're supposed to," she giggled. Pulling back, Bella leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. "I love you, Edward. I always will."

"I'll always love you, too."

—LO—

Bella and I stayed in the park for a few more minutes before we stood up and started running again. This time, Bella seemed more relaxed, only if a little bit. Once we made our way back to Esme's apartment building, I slipped my hand into hers and we went upstairs. We found Carlisle and Esme sitting on the couch. They looked up at us when we walked in, and I saw the guilt flash across both of their faces.

"How was your run?" Carlisle asked, standing up.

"Cold," Bella muttered.

Carlisle nodded and stepped around the coffee table toward Bella, who shuffled back two steps. "I'm not going to hurt you, Bell."

"Maybe not with your hands, but what about with your words?" she groused. "You, out of the three of you, know how hard being away from here had been, Car. You and Esme were there after I started having the nightmares again. You knew how much I'd been struggling, yet you stood there and let Em hit him. You stood there and let Jas hold me back. How could you do that to me, to us?"

Carlisle sighed. "I don't know. It's just seeing . . . It's hard, okay? You're my baby sister, Bell. I don't want anyone touching you; not even Edward."

"Well, that's too damn bad," I quipped. "You don't have to like it, Carlisle, but Bella is my girlfriend. And unless she tells me to leave her alone, I'll love her in any way she wants me to."

"Yeah, I know," Carlisle grumbled. "Edward, it's not that we don't like you. Hell, you're a good kid, but —"

"Man," I snarled. "I am a man, not a boy. I've earned your respect ten-times over, Carlisle. I deserved better than to be treated like scum for trying to make the woman — not girl, but woman — I love feel better."

"Damn it, you're right!" he yelled. "I know that, and I'm fucking trying to make it better."

"How?" Bella scoffed. "By telling me that I was throwing y'all away, that I was picking Edward over you? I didn't realize I had to pick, Car."

"You don't," Carlisle said. "But we missed you, too, Bell. Letting you go to UCLA, to not being the ones who soothed away the nightmares every night . . ." Carlisle paused and shook his head. "There were too many times over the last few years that we came close to losing you; first to those assholes and then to yourself. You were tittering along a dangerous line, Bell, and when Edward showed up, suddenly, you didn't need us — just him."

"That's not true," Bella mumbled. "I'll always need my brothers, but I love Edward, Car. He . . ."

"He what?" Carlisle asked.

"He gets me," Bella whispered. Slipping my hand out of hers, I smiled and wrapped it around her waist, nestling her against my chest. "He just gets me, Car. He doesn't care that sometimes I get a little crazy, or that my training comes first because it's the same for him. He makes me stronger. And damn it, he fucking tells me that you, Em, and Jas aren't the bad guys. After everything you've done to him, he still understands that you're my brothers and I fucking need you!"

Carlisle sighed and ran his hand over his face before looking back at Esme, who'd been sitting on the couch quietly. "Yeah, I get that." Carlisle turned back to me and Bella. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah?" Bella pressed, lifting an eyebrow. Carlisle nodded. "Prove it."

"How?" he pleaded.

"With how you treat him," Bella said. "Saying you're sorry and that you get it is great, Car, but it doesn't mean shit if you're not to going to respect him, or me."

Carlisle nodded. "I'll try. It's the best I can offer."

"Fine," I responded, causing Bella to look up at me. "But know that I won't ever stop loving Bella, even if you never like me. She's the only part of my life that makes sense."

"I really hope so," Carlisle muttered, under his breath.

Whether Bella heard it or not, I couldn't say because before she could reply, Esme stood up and cleared her throat. "We know you'd rather not see Emmett and Jasper, but we're having Thanksgiving dinner over at the gym. We'd like for you both to come. It won't be the same without you."

"I don't know," Bella fretted, shaking her head.

"You want them to respect your relationship, to show to them that you're not going to let their bastardized attitude stop you from being together?" Esme asked. Bella and I both nodded. "Then prove it. Show up, shove it up their asses that you're in it for the long run."

"Is that what you would do, Esme?" Bella asked. "Because Em and Jas don't seem to have a problem with you loving Car."

Esme smiled. "It's exactly what I would do. And you're right; they don't seem to care about me and Carlisle being together. But then again, I don't fucking give a shit if they do. I love Carlisle, he loves me. Just like you two can't live without each other, neither can we."

"That's right," Carlisle added, smiling as he reached over and took hold of my sister's hand. "Please come with us."

Bella sighed and looked up at me, silently asking me what I wanted to do. Smiling, I brought my hand up and cradled her cheek in my hand. "Let's go, but if it gets to be too much, we're out of there, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Bella whispered.

"Yep," I murmured, leaning my lips down to her ear. "I'm not afraid of getting hit, Bella. My only fear is losing you."

"That will never happen," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around me.

"Then let's go prove it to the assholes," I whispered.

Nodding, Bella looked over at Carlisle and Esme. "Fine, but I swear to God, Car, if they start shit, we're gone — for good this time."

"Understood," Carlisle groused.

"We need to shower so we'll meet you there in a little bit," Bella mumbled, under her breath.

"Okay," Esme chirped, tugging on Carlisle's hand when he started to protest. Clamping his mouth shut, Carlisle agreed with a simple nod and allowed Esme to drag him out of the apartment. The moment the door closed behind them, Bella was out of my arms and bent over, gasping for air. I placed my hand on her back, trying to get her to calm down. She held it together long enough.

"It's okay, baby," I murmured.

"All I could think about was how they'd attacked you," she whimpered. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them."

I dropped to my knees in front of her, pulling her down with me. "Baby, nothing that happened between me, Emmett, Jasper, or Carlisle is your fault. Or my fault. They love you, that's all."

"I know," Bella whispered.

"Come on, let's shower," I urged her. Bella nodded and allowed me to help her stand up.

Bella and I walked into my room, kicking the door shut. Slowly, we began to strip off the others clothes, leaving us standing before each other completely naked. Bella bit her bottom lip and looked up at me from under her lashes. I moaned; the look of innocence rolling off of her had me hardening and yearning to feel her wrapped around me.

Stepping up to her, I wrapped my arms around her waist, sliding one down to her ass while my other hand went up and nestled itself in her hair. Pulling her head back, I crushed my mouth down on hers, causing Bella to moan into my mouth. I tightened my arms around her and walked her backward to my bed, laying her before me. Bella blushed, turning her body an incredible shade of pink. This time I moaned. She had no clue just how spectacularly beautiful she was.

Placing my hands on her knees, I pushed her legs apart. I started at her right knee and started kissing my way up her leg. Bella whimpered, pushing her hips toward me. However, just before I reached her pussy, I moved my mouth to her left leg, following the same trail as I did on the right.

"Edward, please," Bella begged, pushing herself up on her elbows.

I shifted my eyes to her and smirked. "What do you want, baby? Hmm? Tell me what you want?"

Bella's lips began to tremble. "Just you. Always just you."

"You already have me," I whispered, before I turned and lowered my mouth onto her pussy. Bella cried out, one hand flying down to the back of my head while the other one slammed itself against my bed.

"Oh, fuck, Edward, don't stop!" she cried, lifting her hips to meet my mouth.

I moaned, unable to tear myself away from her sweetness to even speak. Sliding my tongue in between her slits, I lapped at her, trying to get as much of her as I could. Bella tasted amazing; I never got enough of her like this. Sliding my hand up, I shoved two fingers into her, causing her to nearly come off the bed as her orgasm hit her. I licked and sucked up as much of her as I could before climbing onto the bed and kissing her.

Bella moaned, tasting herself on my lips. Wrapping her legs around mine, she pulled me down onto her, causing the tip of my cock to rub against her opening.

"Baby, please," she begged.

"I love you," I groaned, sliding into her.

"I love you, too!" Bella gasped as I began thrusting in and out of her, feeling her warm, wet walls squeezing me with each thrust.

"Oh, fuck," I moaned, grabbing her leg and pulling it up over my hip. "You always feel so fucking good, baby. So fucking good."

"Edward, I — I . . . fuck!" Bella shuddered as she orgasmed once again.

I tried to hold out, but the feeling of her clenching around me had me flying over the edge. I pumped myself inside of her a half dozen times before stilling my hips and filling her. I rolled onto the bed, panting as I tried to catch my breath. Bella sighed dreamily and looked over at me.

"Baby, I needed that," she murmured, rolling onto her side and laying her head on my shoulder. "Thank you."

"I should be thanking you," I snickered. "I needed it, too. Come on, let's shower."

"Okay," Bella sighed.

—LO—

Half an hour later, Bella and I had showered and were on our way over to the gym. Bella sat in the passenger seat of my car, holding my hand and trying to keep her breathing calm and even. I knew she was terrified that when we got to the gym, Emmett and Jasper would mouth off or even attack me. I was, too, but I'd go through it for Bella. She'd missed them too damn much and I wouldn't ask her not to be with her family on Thanksgiving, not when she'd been looking forward to coming home so badly.

I parked behind Carlisle's Mercedes and cut the engine. Bella sighed and looked over at me. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can go to Port Angeles instead."

"Tempting, but no," I said, smiling. "It'll be fine, baby; I promise."

"I don't know how you can stay so positive after what they did." Bella brought her hand up to my face, brushing her hand across the bruise on my jaw. "You amaze me."

"How?" I asked, scoffing.

Bella smiled. "Because you loved me when I pushed you away; you kept loving me even though the stepford bitches tried to tear us apart; and you still loved me when my brothers went all caveman on your ass."

"And I'll never stop loving you," I murmured, leaning over and kissing her. "Ever."

"I'll never stop loving you, either," Bella whispered, brushing her lips across mine.

Taking a deep breath, Bella and I climbed out of the car and headed inside. However, we stopped in the doorway when found Emmett, Rose, Jasper, Alice, Esme, and Carlisle in a stare down with Renee, Charlie, Nolan, and Corrine. Bella tensed up as all of them looked over at us. Fuck, dealing with her parents was the last thing my girl needed to deal with right now.


	21. Chapter 21

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Bella swore under her breath. Corrine, Nolan, Renee, and Charlie looked over at us, smiles flittering across their faces. Next to me, I felt Bella tense. Like this was what she needed, to deal with them. This was fucking Thanksgiving and instead of getting to spend a few relaxing days with her brothers, my sister, Rose, and Alice, we'd done nothing but fight. It was getting old.

"Bella, you look beautiful," Corrine chirped, stepping around Nolan and coming toward Bella, who scrambled away from her mother. Normally, Bella would make the effort, but after the emotional war she'd been fighting over the last few days with Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle, she wasn't going to be able to handle them. "Sweetheart?"

"This is just too much," Bella groused, dragging a hand through her hair. She shifted her eyes up to mine. "I can't handle them, too."

"You can. Running away isn't going to help, either, baby," I murmured, brushing my fingers across her cheek.

"I know," Bella whispered, closing her eyes.

"Bell," Renee said and Bella sighed before looking over at her. "Please, just give us a chance."

"Why should I?" Bella snarled. "You tossed me away like I was nothing to you, Ren."

"No, I didn't!" Renee insisted, stepping toward Bella, but stopped when Bella took two more steps back. Anymore and she'd be right out the front door. "I made a choice, one that wasn't easy to make. I did what I had to do."

"And you left me to go crazy over the death of our parents," Bella growled. Corrine and Nolan shifted their eyes to the floor. "Oh, but wait, they didn't die, did they? Nope, they just left me, too. Everyone in my life has left me at one point or another — everyone but Edward. He's the only one who loves me."

"That's not true," Emmett argued, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Isn't it?" Bella challenged, raising an eyebrow toward her brother. Gesturing to the bruises and cut on my face, she added, "Last time I checked, trying to beat the shit out of my boyfriend constitutes leaving me."

Emmett dropped his eyes to the ground. "No, it doesn't. It means that I can't handle watching him paw all of you. You're my baby sister, Bell. I don't need to see you like that."

"Like what?" Bella exclaimed.

"Like a fucking woman!" Emmett yelled, causing Bella to stumble back against the door. "You left here this scared kid, who was barely hanging on, and came back a damn woman, stronger and more beautiful than ever. I wasn't prepared for you to grow up and stop needing me to fight for you."

"You think I'm strong?" Bella asked, quietly. "I'm barely hanging on. I came home, hoping that I'd find comfort here, someplace safe to cry. But I didn't get that. I got Renee and Charlie in my face, Jacob Black trying to corner us at First Beach, you assholes trying to beat the love of my life for daring to touch me, and now, this," Bella said, gesturing to everyone.

Shaking her head, she walked over to the equipment cabinet and threw the doors open. Grabbing a pair of gloves and a set of headgear, she turned and threw them at everyone. Alice and Rose scrambled out of the way, while everyone else just stood there, staring at her. Grabbing another set, Bella threw those, and then another set, and one more after that.

"Come on!" she screamed. "Put them on. You want to fight me so fucking bad, put them on and let's settle this in the ring!"

"Bell," Emmett muttered.

"No, Em, you want to hit someone so fucking bad. Put your shit on and let's get in the ring. You can take your anger out on me. I'm the one you're pissed off at, right?"

"No," Emmett exclaimed.

"Bullshit," Bella hissed. "I dared to grow up, I dared to let the man I'm in love with touch me. You don't care that he's been the one holding me together for over a fucking year. You don't care that until he showed up in this fucking town that I wanted to die every damn day!"

"I do care," Emmett insisted, walking toward Bella. But she shook her head and grabbed a set of gloves and shoved them onto her hands. "Bell, I'm not gonna fight you."

"Scared?" I asked, causing him to glare at me. "It's fine for you to jump me, but you can't face off with her. Are you scared she'll kick your ass, Emmett?"

"This doesn't concern you," Emmett groused.

"It became my concern the moment you slammed me against the wall and hit me," I snarled. I walked over to Bella, and tied her gloves for her. Grabbing one of the head pieces, I put it on her and turned to look at everyone. "Who's going first?"

Nobody moved, much less said anything. The room was filled with awkward tension and unspoken apologies, but saying they were sorry wasn't going to do any of us any good right now. We'd heard it before and yet, they kept pushing for more than she could give us. Like I told Bella before, I wasn't afraid of being hit; but losing her would be the end of me. Bella was just as much my savior as I was hers.

"I will." At the sound of Nolan's voice, everyone looked back at him. He ran a hand through his blond hair, reminding me of Carlisle when he got frustrated. "Um, I'll fight you."

Shifting my eyes back to Bella, I waited for her to say something. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine," she said. "L — let's go."

Nolan came over to me, holding his own hands out so that I could attach his gloves and headgear. Once I'd done that, Nolan went over and climbed into the ring, standing in the corner opposite of Bella. The tension in the room had reached its highest point, and while nobody had muttered as much as a word, I could tell that they weren't sure letting Bella face off against her father was the best idea. However, I thought it was long overdue. At least Nolan was brave enough to face his daughter, the rest of them were too busying blaming me for loving her.

"Edward, tell us when to go," Bella muttered around her mouth piece.

Looking at my watch, I waited until the seconds hand had hit the twelve before calling out: "Go."

While Bella took a quick step to her left, Nolan stood there in the corner watching her. Bella growled and went up to him, slugging him in the jaw with a right hook, followed by a shot to the gut with her left. Nolan groaned and pushed her away, but didn't make a move to hit her. Bella huffed and went at him again: a right jab, followed by a left roundhouse, then a shot to the right side of his rubs. Still Nolan just stood there.

"FIGHT ME!" Bella screamed, spitting her mouth piece out. She pushed Nolan back into the ropes. "Fight me, goddamn it!"

Nolan placed his gloves on her shoulder and pushed her away, but once again, made no effort to hit her. Bella screamed, going on the offensive. Over and over, she hit him, alternating between her right and left glove. While Nolan groaned, he stood there with his gloves up in front of him, taking each strike.

"Edward, stop her," Esme hissed, moving over to where I was leaning against the ring, my arms braced on the ropes.

"Nope," I said, shortly. "She needs this and he's the only one with balls enough to fight her."

"He's not fighting her," Esme snarled. "He's standing there letting her hit him."

I shifted my eyes over to where Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle were standing. "Yeah, like I've been doing for a year." They turned their eyes over to me. "Every snarky, asshole comment that you've made toward me, every time you told her that she shouldn't love me, that I couldn't love her the way I claim to, I stood there and took each hit. You know why?"

"No," Carlisle said, while Emmett and Jasper shook their heads.

"Because I loved her too much to ask her to choose between you and me," I said. Bella had stopped her attack on her father and was looking over at me. "Because she needs you, because she'd already lost her parents, and Renee and Charlie, and I couldn't stand there and ask her to pick me over you. So I . . ." I trailed off and took a deep breath. "So I stood there and let each word, each insult cut into me because Bella's worth it to me. Because I love her enough to take each fucking hit."

"You love her that much?" At Nolan's question, I turned and looked at him. His nose was bleeding and I could see the bruise already starting to form on his jaw.

"I love her more than that much," I said. "Bella gives me a reason to smile, to laugh, to breathe every day. She inspires me to work harder, to be a better fighter, to be the best man I can be. She gave me hope."

"Hope for what?" Esme asked, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I turned and looked at my sister. "Hope that one day, when I woke up, I wouldn't feel alone. Es, you know what I'm talking about."

Esme shifted her eyes over to Carlisle, who looked ashamed. "I do. I really do."

"And, Bella, you love him?" Nolan asked, pulling our attention to him.

Bella smiled. "I do. Edward gives me hope, too."

"Hope for what?" Corrine asked.

Bella took a deep breath. "Hope that when I wake up in the morning, I won't be scared of the shadows." Corrine closed her eyes, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "I don't say that to be mean, but until Edward came into my life, every time I tried to sleep, I relived those horrors. Edward saved me from a life of hell. And nobody cares about that."

"We do care," Jasper said, running his hand along the back of his neck. Sighing, he looked from me to Bella. "We do care, Bell, but it's hard. A year ago, you'd barely speak to us, and now you're different."

"Because Edward makes me better," Bella pleaded, gripping the ring with her gloves. "Jas, he's my Alice. My Rose, Em. He . . . He . . ." Bella struggled to find the right words.

"He makes you happy," Emmett muttered, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "He just — he just makes you happy."

"Yeah," Bella said, quietly. "I don't understand why you can't accept him. Never once did I ask you to pick me over Rose, or me over Ali, or me over Esme, Car." Bella shifted her eyes over to Renee. "Or Charlie, Ren."

"Didn't you?" Renee asked. "Isn't that why you're pissed with me? Because I chose Charlie over you."

"No," Bella murmured. "It's because it was everything else over me. I needed my sister to tell me it was okay, Ren, but you weren't there. I needed my sister to hold me when I cried, to tell me it was okay to fall in love, but you weren't there. You were big sister, and you weren't there. Not a phone call, not a postcard. Nothing."

"She wanted to," Charlie said, speaking for the first time. "Bella, there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't pick up the phone to call you. Do you know why she didn't?"

"No," Bella whispered.

"Because she didn't want to put you in danger." Charlie huffed. "And neither did I. After Aro's men went after Nolan and Corrine, the Omega Sector knew that the only way to get the proof we needed to put Aro away for their attack was if someone went in undercover. I couldn't allow someone else to put themselves in danger — not for my family. I tried to get Renee to stay here with you, but . . ."

"But I couldn't." Renee wrapped her arms around Charlie. Looking over at Bella, Renee frowned. "Charlie's my Edward, Bella. I couldn't leave him; I couldn't live one moment without him. So I made the hardest decision of my life and I turned my back on my family — on our family — and went with him. If you were in my shoes, could you have left Edward?"

Bella took a deep breath. "No."

"I'm sorry that I'm not the sister you need me to be, Bell. I'm not cool like the boys, I don't find strapping on a pair of gloves and getting in the ring to be fun. I don't like sweating," Renee grumbled. "You never wanted me like you wanted the boys."

Bella huffed. "Ren, I already had the boys, I needed my sister. You know, another girl that I could talk to who wasn't going to try to force me to wear fucking dresses and shit."

"Cause dresses are so evil," Alice muttered, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting down.

"They are," Renee and Bella said together. Smiling, they looked at each other.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me, Bell," Renee said. "But if you'll let me, I'll be here for you now."

"Yeah?" Bella asked, biting on her bottom lip.

"Yeah," Renee replied. "Us girls have to stick together. Oh, and by the way, Car, Em, and Jas still give Charlie the stink eye when he kisses me. It's a brother thing."

Bella smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. We can try, but you have to understand that it's gonna take me awhile to trust you again."

"I've got time," Renee whimpered, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "All the time you need."

Nodding, Bella shifted her eyes around at everyone, stopping when she reached Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle. "You don't have to like that I'm with Edward." They looked up at him. "But I am, and that's not gonna change just because you're a bunch of dicks who don't want me to be happy. Deal with it or lose me. I'm not doing this shit with you anymore."

"Bell," Emmett murmured, shaking his head. "Fine, do whatever you want with the boy, but if he hurts you . . ."

"Yeah, yeah; we all know that you'll rip his nuts off," Bella droned. I winced; there was nothing funny about talking about ripping my nuts off of my body.

"You bet your ass I will." Turning to me, Emmett added, "But I don't think I'll have to. I know you love her, Edward, but she'll always be my little sister. It will always be my job to protect her skinny ass."

"I know," I said, while Bella muttered about not having a skinny ass. "But jump my ass like that again, I will take you out."

"Duly noted," Emmett groused, before turning and walking over to Rose. He slipped his arms around her, nestling her against his chest.

"Jas?" Bella asked, pulling his attention up to her.

Jasper sighed. "Yeah, okay, whatever."

Bella nodded and started to climb out of the ring, but stopped and looked back at Nolan. "You could have fought back."

"I could have," Nolan replied.

"Why didn't you?" Bella asked, while everyone else milled around the gym.

Nolan smiled. "Because you didn't need me to fight back, you needed me to take the hits that you can't bring yourself to give your brothers."

Bella sighed, and looked down at the mat. "I'm still angry with you and Mom."

"I know," Nolan muttered.

"But I'm glad you're here." At Bella's omission, everyone looked over at her, including Corrine who's been very quiet during everything. "I may not be ready to be your daughter again, not in the way you want me to be, but I did miss you while I was at school."

"We missed you, too," Nolan said, quietly.

Bella nodded and climbed out of the ring. She made a beeline for me, nearly falling into my arms. Through she managed to be silent; her tears seeped into my shirt. While Nolan, Corrine, Renee, Charlie, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice settled around the table, Bella's soul healed just a little bit more. Maybe things would be okay after all.


End file.
